Kingdom Hearts: Sigma
by strouplionheart
Summary: Fifteen years have passed since the defeat of Xehanort in the Keyblade War. Now, an entire student population with the power to wield the Keyblade have been chosen to learn to become Masters. But a select few will be thrown into an adventure that will determine more than just a high-school diploma. Much more. The true story is NOT over. OC's everywhere. Please Read and Review!
1. Welcome to the KMS!

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 1: Welcome to the KMS!

A quiet gust of chilling wind blew through the land, picking up stranded leaves and twigs and carrying them upon its embrace. Yet another typical sunny day in the KMS, or the Keyblade Master Society, a large facility that was founded to shape up chosen Keyblade wielders and, one day, hopefully give them the skills and abilities they require to pass the Mark of Mastery, which was, undoubtedly, the dream of every wielder of the magic sword.

"Hey! Gabriel!"

Gabriel, a 17 year-old boy with dreams of becoming one of the strongest Keyblade wielders of all time. With hair of dark brown, clothes of an ebony black, and a voice of dark impression, he stands approximately five feet and seven inches tall. Ashley, a young, beautiful girl with cut blonde hair and wonderful blue eyes, whose attire was much more colorful (that being anything but black), had known Gabriel for quite a long time. Years, even. Their friendship traced back far before their days at the KMS, and even to their childhoods. It was sometims argued whether or not the two were a couple, which they both would always deny.

"Oh, hey, Ashley."

She panted slightly, catching her breath as she leaned up to face her friend.

"Hey, where were you? We were waiting at the flag pole the whole time for you to show up."

"The flag pole?" he questioned. "Ah, Sorry. Guess I must've forgotten."

She stared intently into his eyes. "That's not true!"

"What?" the boy took a step back, puzzled.

"You couldn't just swing by and say hi to everyone? They all wanted to see you."

He shrugged his shoulders carelessly, a frown across his face. "I'm not good with social gatherings. You should-"

"Forget it, Ashley," spoke a voice from behind them. It belonged to another teenage male, yet he was shorter than Gabriel, standing at around five feet and four inches tall. Behind him stood another boy, whose facial hair and posture gave him the appearance of a middle-aged man.

"Hunter! Damion!" exclaimed an excited Ashley.

Hunter shook his head. "Gabriel's always been the distant one between the four of us. Even though we're friends...you always tend to keep to yourself."

The boy shrugged, once again, but this time a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Sorry."

"No worries," proclaimed Damion, who briefly rubbed his nose. "Whaddya say we get moving?"

"Yeah, good idea," said Hunter. "The meeting's already started! We're already late!"

"What!" shouted Ashley. "C'mon, then! Let's move!"

"To the auditorium," Gabriel reminded. "This way," he said, pointing his finger to the right. The four friends hastily sprinted to the auditorium, hoping to catch whatever was left of the introduction ceremony.

As expected, the inside of the facility was just as big as its outside, even though that part was surrounded by lust fields of green and even a few parks and fountains. The inside? Cool and filled to the brim with tile flooring. It was well taken care of, despite it being infested with teenagers and being there for quite a while. The building was no less than five stories tall, since there was a floor for every grade of student: freshman, sophomore, junior, and the seniors. Of course, the seniors got the biggest, best-decorated floors, since they were the cream of the crop when it came to the other students. Everyone looked up to them, in more ways than one.

The bottom floor was home to many of the on-campus attractions, such as a swimming pool, indoors gardens, training centers, and even the battle arena used more frequently than anyone would expect. And, of course, the auditorium. A loud ruckus could be heard echoing through the halls, which was obviously coming from the first floor's central area. The four friends had arrived with but a moment to spare. As they entered the auditorium, a tall figure with dashing, spiky brown hair rose onto a small stage overlooking the students, which easily numbered more than a thousand.

"Good day to you all!" the man exclaimed cheerfully. "My name is Sora, and I'm the leader here at the KMS, the Keyblade Master Society, where we train you rookies to become full-fledged Keyblade Masters!" He gestured his hands to his left and right, referring to a beautiful young woman with long red hair and a man with long silver hair. "These are your two assistant headmasters, Riku and Kairi."

"It's so wonderful to meet you all!" giggled Kairi, moving closer to the edge of the stage to make sure everyone heard her. "I promise to do my best to make this an enjoyable year!"

"As do I," stated Riku with a manly smile. "It's gonna be a great year, guys. And if you ever need anything, you know who to come to."

Sora smiled and returned his look to the students. "For those of you who are new to the KMS, you will be taken to the Freshmen Quarters on the second floor. Follow Riku here to your rooms."

With that single order, the entirety of the freshmen population divided itself from the rest of the students, which happened to be the majority of them this year. Riku leapt effortlessly from the stage and down to meet them, directing them to follow him to the second floor. The thundering sound of countless footsteps echoed through the auditorium.

"So many freshmen this year!" Hunter snickered, watching as they all eventually left the room.

"Damn, no kidding," chuckled Damion.

"So?" Ashley huffed, crossing her arms and throwing the two boys an annoyed look. "I like the fact that there are so many of them! They all look up to us upper classmen to set a good example."

"US upper classmen?" played Hunter. "You're only a sophomore. The only one of us who's an upper classmen is Gabriel."

Gabriel scratched his head in irritation. "Enough, guys."

Hunter laughed slightly. "Man of few words, as always."

"Whatever."

"Now," continued Sora, "Kairi, would you please divide these students and escort them to their proper floors?"

"Certainly!" Kairi said, nodding. "All sophomores, you get the third floor. All juniors, fourth floor. And of course, any seniors, top floor. Now, everyone, please take out the papers you were given upon enrollment for this year."

All of the students who were still in the area glanced down and entered their hands in their pockets, reaching for what seemed to be a small note.

"These papers have a number on them," she continued. "Look on the top-right corner of the paper, and you'll see a three-digit number on it. That's your room number. Some of you will have the same room numbers, so you'll have to be nice and share a room with your new friends!"

There were a hefty number of groans and sighs from the crowd of students.

"Now, everyone, please find your rooms and unpack your things. The battle exam will begin in two hours. Good luck!" She and Sora exited stage-left and proceeded down the hall, very possibly going to the arena for the upcoming event.

Ahh, the battle exam...It was the one event Gabriel, amongst the others, looked forward to each year. It was his chance to see how much he's improved by each passing year. But other than that, things were getting too predictable and "boring" for him, or so he believed. It was all the same, year after year. Get passing grades, ace the tests, move on to the next grade. That's what he felt it was like for three whole years. He had walked into the elevator, pressing a small button to make his way to the fourth floor. Juniors would undoubtedly be littering the grounds the second he entered the floor. Sure enough, the first thing he had seen were two junior ladies speeding down the hallway without shirts on, giggling and chasing a boy that was running all the way at the end of the hallway already; in his hand, their shirts were held. Just a first-day prank for juniors, but who could blame them? Most juniors didn't have any reason to prank the freshmen, as they would normally do.

"Let's see..." said Gabriel, glancing down at his paper. "Room 418. That would be..." He turned to his left to see a bronze-colored door, reading a big, bold "418" on its cover. He knocked on the door to see if anyone was still there, and to his surprise-and mostly, his dismay-someone answered the door. It was a boy with blonde hair, sharp blue eyes, and clothes that made him look like trailer trash. It was just a simple, raggedy, worn white T-shirt with more holes in it than one could hazard to guess.

"Hey! Gabriel!" the boy said, patting Gabriel on the shoulder. Unwanted contact, to be sure. "'Been a long time, buddy!"

"Just last year, Shane," retored Gabriel, brushing off the boy's hand and adjusting his shoulder. "Not long enough, though."

"Hey!" a voice echoed from inside of the room. "What's that supposed to mean?" Gabriel and Shane walked inside of the room, seeing that the voice belonged to a boy who looked almost identical to Shane, but instead, he had brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Exactly what I said, Zach," spat Gabriel.

"Oh, c'mon, now, you guys," spoke the boy to the left of Zach, sitting on his bed and attempting to light a cigarette. His hair was almost as blonde as Shane's, and his eyes were as black as ebony. "Let's just try and get along, all right?"

"Jacob," Gabriel questioned, "How you been? And what's with the cigarette?"

"I'm doin' pretty damn well," replied Jacob. "As for the cigarette, I dunno. Just thought I'd try it once."

"If you say so," huffed Gabriel.

"How about you? You been doing all right?"

"I've managed. Still going out with Jenny?"

At the sound of that name, Jacob's cigarette forced itself out of his hand, falling to the floor unlit. His grip loosened so intently that he almost lost the lighter, as well. As he managed to pull himself together, his hand reached below his legs to grab the cigarette, thankfully still unlit. If he had delayed too long, it would have set the ground ablaze.

"Don't even mention that name!" demanded Jacob.

"Guess not," Gabriel chuckled.

"What happened between you two?" asked Shane, as innocently as possible.

"I'd...rather not say. Let's just leave it at that."

"But-"

"Just LEAVE it at THAT!"

He dropped his bags and turned to face the door. "Fair enough," he said, before leaving the room. He obviously wasn't interested in engaging in conversation with people he was not particularly fond of. He had found his way to the cafeteria on the first floor, which, by the looks of things, was very well taken care of. It had marble flooring, just like everywhere else on the first floor. Large glass windows overlooked the entire area, and the sun shined brilliantly through them. It was also a great place to relax, if you didn't already use your room for that; the only thing you could smell when you walked in, besides the scent of cooking food, was a wonderful pineapple mango aroma that lofted through the entirety of the food center. He had found a seat near a window, and he sat there, gazing out the window, hoping that something exciting or different would occur.

"Damn. Nothing changes. It's all the same."

Before he could process it, a very attractive young woman walked up to him with a smile on her face. Her hair was an ebony shade, and her eyes were of lovely emerald. However, her clothing was not exactly as elegant as her facial features; it was somewhat...revealing, being nothing but a purple skirt and tanktop, which barely covered up to her underarms. "Gabriel!"

"Jenny," he said, glancing over to her and lightly bowing his head.

"What's up?" she giggled.

"Not much. You?"

"Meh. Just getting ready for the exam."

He glanced downwards, losing interest. "Yeah, same with everyone else..." His voice was barely audible.

"Huh?"

He shook his head slightly, looking back at her. "Forget it. So, what happened between you and Jacob?"

"Oh, him?" She gestured her hand in the form of a wave, symboling no trouble. "Don't even worry about him. I'm not into self-centered guys like that."

He blinked in confusion. "Self-centered?"

"Yeah!" she snapped. "I mean, the guy talks about himself for hours on end! Who'd wanna sit and listen to that?"

"Yeah, whatever..." His interest had obviously left the building.

"Hey, what's with you?" she asked. "You don't sound very happy."

He stood up slowly, glancing back towards her. "Can you really blame me? It's the same thing, year after year. This KMS thing never changes."

"Uh-huh..." she nodded slowly, but sarcastically. "And that's a BAD thing?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it's not exactly...bad. Just really predictable."

"I see," she laughed. "Poor wittle Gabriel!"

"Whatever," he said, obviously annoyed. "I'm off to the exam."

Swiftly and suddenly, she grabbed his hand. "Cool! Let's go together."

He exhaled heavily. "Fine."

"'Fine?' You're not used to this whole girl thing, are you?"

He had nothing to say. He had been defeated. He always was when it came to girls.

All students were gathered at the arena, where their battle exam was to take place. After waiting for two hours, which seemed more like a small eternity, everyone was excited and pumped to prove themselves in this upcoming challenge.

"All right, everyone," said Riku, who was addressing the students from a room located near the ceiling of the arena, speaking through a microphone. "This is your first battle exam of the year. Depending on how well you do, we'll assign your missions accordingly."

Gabriel's face lit with a slight smile. "Knowing me, I'll get the Twilight Town missions." Going to Twilight Town on a mission was considered a very high honor. It was something that required a lot of skill and finess to pull off, since Sora, Kairi, and Riku all knew that Twilight Town was home to an identity far superior to the Heartless.

"Fat chance," spoke a cocky voice from behind him. As he turned to face it, his face twisted with a frown. "Those missions are all mine!"

"Patrick," played Gabriel, "That's what you say every year. It never happens."

"Yeah, well, I've trained all summer for this!" the large boy retorted. He brushed back his spiked brown hair, and he smirked at his rival.

"Then I guess I'll wish you luck," said Gabriel. It stung him inside to even do something like that against his better judgment. He didn't like Patrick, not one bit.

"Spare me, loser. I don't need it!"

And Patrick didn't like him. Not one bit.

"Now, are you all ready?" Riku continued from the intercom. "As usual, for this exam, you'll be using the Kingdom Key to fend off your enemies. You'll be fighting artificial Heartless, so they won't steal your hearts if you lose. But you WILL fail the exam."

"No problems here," retorted Ashley from afar.

A large, black puddle of what seemed to be darkness started to form in the center of the arena, and everyone had readied their Keyblades. This was going to be the start of their year-an exam that pit them against artificially-created Heartless.

Riku spoke once again from the intercom. "Ready? Get set..."

Gabriel's hand twisted around his weapon, firmly grasping hold of it. His eyes glared with the intent to kill. "Here they come!"

"GO!" 


	2. The Battle Exam

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 2: The Battle Exam

"GO!"

One word. That's all it took to cause a slight tremor in the earth around them. The ground rumbled beyond comprehension, and upon doing so, several unique and powerful types of Heartless emerged from the massive dark portal in the center of the arena. Although they were artificially created, they looked-and attacked-just as mercilessly as the real thing.

"Here we go!" yelled Gabriel, charging into the gang of Heartless. To no surprise, the rest of the student population followed shortly after, dashing at top-speed towards their enemies. Some were slightly hesitant, while others were simply reckless. As they managed their way through the crowd of Heartless, several were struck down and eradicated within the span of a few seconds. Gabriel, as expected, was one of the few who thought his situation through carefully. Of course, he didn't exactly have a thousand and one Arabian Nights to think of a strategy. Nobody did.

Patrick had attempted to slay a Heartless-a Large Body-with a final attack, but to his irritation, Gabriel swept in and finished it off before he got the chance to, striking it through the head and avoiding its stomach. As Gabriel tapped back down to the ground, he turned to face Patrick while fending off a small handful of Heartless. The cocky Keyblade wielder stomped in anger.

"Hey, loser!" he raged. "No stealing my kills!" As he shouted at his rival, Gabriel leapt up in the air right above Patrick, killing three additional Shadows that were aimed right for him. Planting himself back on the ground, he shot him an angry look.

"Then stay outta my way, asshole!"

Of course, it was putting it lightly to say that gave Patrick a deeper sense of anger. Still, if he was paying attention, Gabriel wouldn't have to scold him and "steal his kills." And, sure enough, right as Gabriel finished his sentence, a small group of Fat Bandits ran towards the two, and Gabriel knew he would be unable to get to his hated rival in time to save him. Patrick turned swiftly around, and only raised his weapon in defense. He was too surprised to think of anything else to do. However, just in the nick of time, another student, a boy taller than Gabriel with silver-blonde hair and a sharp green jacket, struck down the three Fat Bandits as if they were but measely Shadows. He turned his head to face Patrick, who glanced up to him in irritation.

"Don't let your guard down," he finally said. "It'll get you killed when this is all real."

"Keith?" echoed Gabriel, once again having to advert his attention to the Heartless around him. Still, he pressed on, striking his enemies as they got close.

"Man up," Keith spoke to Patrick. "You look pathetic."

Patrick spat at the ground, looking back at Keith with a cheesy grin.

"Up yours, nerd! I'm gonna get you back for that!"

He rose back to his feet and bolted back towards Gabriel's direction, with Keith leaping into the air and striking down multiple Heartless, continuing his assault.

"Gabriel!" shouted Ashley, running towards him as fast as her legs would move her. But out of the thin, a Powerwild rose into the sky, ready to pounce on its prey.

"Ashley! Behind you!"

She was too slow to realize she was being attacked by a Heartless. However, as luck would have it, as she turned around to see it coming straight at her, Hunter, with his trusty Keyblade, smacked the Powerwild away and high into the air, causing it to dissipate into thin air.

"Hunter!" she exhaled, relieved she wasn't hurt.

"No worries!" Hunter said, winking at her. "I got your back!"

"Heads up, a Wizard!" exclaimed Gabriel, causing Hunter to run behind him in fear. He looked behind him and smacked his face with his palm, a little embarassed that his comrade as cowering behind him.

"Geez..." he sighed. "He never changes."

Atop the arena, Kairi and Riku sat comfortably in their seats, overlooking the entire exam with their own eyes. A door was heard sliding open, and it revealed a cheerful-looking Sora with a detrmined gleam in his eyes. "So," he requested," How's it coming along?"

"Well," started Riku, "The ones we had last year are doing great. It's no wonder they're still enrolled here."

He laughed slightly. "You must be talking about Gabriel and his friends. Yeah, they're definitely no pushovers."

"Still, these ARE only artificial Heartless, nowhere near as strong as the real things."

"That makes a slight difference, yes, but these kids are capable of things you'd never expect. They'll take on the real thing, just like they've done for the past two years."

Riku chuckled. "If you say so."

Yet again, Patrick was unable to finish off an enemy, and so, Gabriel had swept in once more to take it out, angering Patrick to a new level.

"What'd I tell you about taking my kills!" he shouted at his hated adversary.

"What'd I tell YOU about getting in my way!" Gabriel shouted back, turning around to face him.

"Shut up!" he shouted back, tossing a strike his way. Gabriel was careful enough to avoid the Heartless coming after him, but he barely dodged Patrick's swipe. This also happened to catch Ashley's attention, and she ran over to meet Gabriel. However, before she could manage to get to him, he leapt into the air, shouting, "What the hell're you trying to do!" at Patrick before taking off in a different direction. Ashley followed in suit, pulling a massive U-turn and pursuing him. Patrick was no longer concerned with fighting the Heartless, and as such, he tossed his Keyblade into the air and leapt up to grab it, coming down on Gabriel as he finally stopped to fight a small group of enemies. He had been struck by Patrick on his left rib, sending him plummeting in pain to the ground. Gasping for air, Gabriel managed to rise to his feet, and he glared at Patrick with a look of rage.

"You bastard!" he breathed, barely enough in him to speak the whole two words.

Patrick simply chuckled. "What're you talking about? You let your guard down and got hit! That's all, loser!" He ran off in a different direction to continue the fight.

Ashley was far too concerned with Gabriel's injury, and as such, she did her best to shield them both from the Heartless, and to her surprise and relief, Hunter and Damion had found them both in the crowd and decided to pull together to protect Gabriel until the end of the exam. Sure enough, after about thirty more seconds, the Heartless started to dissipate into nothing, signaling the end of the exam. Gabriel had managed to stay conscious, but the wound itself was terrible, stretching across most of his side. Droplets of blood fell from the gash, dripping periodically to the floor. It was obvious that he was in need of some type of medical attention.

But Gabriel was too stubborn for that.

In an act to hide his damaged rib, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a very handy strip of white bandages, and he quickly wrapped it around his wound, hoping that nobody would notice it, and he pulled his shirt down to further cover it up from the human eye. It was only moments later that Sora stepped foot onto a small stage overlooking the students to speak to them.

"You all did well. Now, while we tally up your scores, proceed to the cafeteria for lunch. Enjoy the break!"

"Food!" shouted Hunter.

"A freakin' break!" shouted Damion.

The majority of the student population bolted for the cafeteria, but Gabriel and Ashley were the ones to leave themselves behind. He tried to limp to the cafeteria to join them, but Ashley stopped him before he made any foolish moves. She placed her hand on his face, gazing deep into his eyes. Something that she didn't mind doing any time of the day.

"Gabriel, you need to say something about Patrick. That jerk almost-"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care. No big deal."

She removed her hand from his face. "But...he hurt you! You could've been seriously injured if the exam didn't end when it did! We had to shield you!"

"Yeah, well, it's over now." He broke away from her. "No more talking. Let's grab some lunch."

It took every ounce of her being to stop herself from saying anything in protest. But she managed. Barely.

The four friends had treated themselves to a nice lunch, which was, of course, the same thing that everybody else got: a nice, steaming slice of pepperoni pizza with a hefty sum of chips, as well as an energy drink known as Jenova, which was used by pro athletes and exercise fanatics. It was also a main source of energy in the school, since the students were encouraged to drink them to further increase their performance during missions. It was, completely contrary to what any could expect, good for the body.

The entire lunch period, Ashley's eyes failed to leave Gabriel. She had fixated herself on him since they got their food, hoping that the wound he had suffered wouldn't make it too apparent he was hurt. She wanted someone to notice, so he could get the help he needed, but she knew how he was. He wrapped it up to cover it and keep it from everyone, so as to make it seem like he was strong. So as to make it look like he was tougher than the others.

But she already knew that.

She wasn't stupid enough to believe that he wasn't really hurt. He knew it, she knew it, and soon, someone would find out before the exam scores were given to each student after lunch. She just had the feeling someone would take notice, and sweet lord, how she hoped it was more than just a feeling. To her dismay, lunch break didn't last more than thirty minutes, and sure enough, time flies when you're having fun.

Or when you're worried sick.

The student population had once again organized themselves into the arena, where they would all hear their final tallied scores. Sora, Kairi, and Riku approached the small stage overlooking their students, all with smiles on their faces.

"Welcome back, everyone," said Sora. "We've got your scores, judged solely on your performance in the exam." He turned slightly and pointed to a large screen behind him, which suddenly flashed with multiple numbers and icons on it. "Here they are!"

The board was filled to the brim of numbers, all measuring in the three digits. By each number, there was a recorded name, and the higher the number, the further up that person was on the list, finally leaving the top-ranked people to the very tip of it. Gabriel glanced at the board, just as everybody else did.

"I will now read the top three scores," said Sora. "Patrick, with a 400."

"Hell yeah!" Patrick shouted, obviously boosting his ego. "I'm amazing!"

"Gabriel, with a 430," continued Sora.

"Say what!" exclaimed Patrick.

"And finally, Keith, with an impressive 465!"

Keith simply nodded, shedding a faint smile. Gabriel walked over to him, as best as he could. He offered a hand to shake, only to have it tossed to the side.

"Save it. I don't need any praise."

He snickered at his failed hospitality. "Not much for friendly banter, are you?"

Patrick started to cause another ruckus. "Yo! Spiky!" his complains were obviously directed towards Sora.

"What is it, Patrick?" he asked.

"How come I didn't get a perfect score!"

"Because you struck down a fellow comrade," stated Riku, filling in for Sora.

"Shit..." whispered Gabriel. It was barely audible, and he made sure of that.

"We saw the whole thing during the fight," continued Riku. "Sorry, but you've been caught red-handed." He turned to face Kairi. "Would you please call Cid here to take Patrick to detention?"

"Certainly!" Kairi responded, nodding with a smile. She reached for a small, pink walkie-talkie on her right hip, releasing the hatch and holding it up to her face. "Cid? Come in, Cid. I need you in the arena, ASAP."

"Can do, little lady!" echoed a voice from the walkie-talkie.

"Thank you, sir!" She latched the talkie back onto its strap, and sure enough, no more than five seconds later, Cid Highwind barged into the arena riding a solid blue motorcycle, attached with cleaning supplies.

"What seems to be the problem, missy?" he said, his trademark grin glaring some of his teeth.

"Janitor Cid!" exclaimed Ashley, turning to face him.

The man grinned at her. "Not just the Janitor, kiddo! I'm also security!" He flashed a nifty little gold badge off of his shirt that read, "Head of Security and Student Safety: Cid Highwind," and in little text, it also said, "Also a kickass janitor!"

"What's the problem, Sora?" he finally asked.

"Escort Patrick here-" he pointed at the student in question-"To detention for the day."

To his surprise, Cid grabbed Patrick by his right ear, dragging him along and ignoring his cries for freedom. "Let me go, dammit!" he shouted.

"Now, now," Cid replied, grinning, "No need to get your panties in a knot. Just come without a fuss, kid. It'll go much smoother for 'ya."

Amidst all of the laughter and hissing, Sora leapt down from the stage and walked carefully over to Gabriel, making his way through a crowd of students.

"I need to see you in my office. Follow me."

He looked down in irritation. "Yes, sir." His legs followed him alongside Sora, hoping that he wouldn't be scolded too seriously. Oddly enough, to his surprise, the second they arrived into his office, Sora had gestured for him to have a seat. As he sat down, Sora requested that he lift his shirt to allow him to see his injury. Complying with his headmaster, he lifted the bottom of his clothing to reveal a poorly-wrapped bandage. Sora's eyes grew tenser as he glared at the wound.

"Good lord! Gabriel, I'm getting you into the infirmary."

He shook his head. "No, sir. I'm fine. I'll-"

"Nonsense." He reached for his walkie on the side of his left pocket, which was black, contrary to Kairi's pink and Riku's blue. "Aerith? This is Sora. Please save a bed in the infirmary for a student, by the name of Gabriel. I'm sending him to you at once."

"Roger that!" spoke Aerith from the walkie. "I'll have it ready for him when he gets here."

"Thank you, ma'am," he responded, quickly shutting off his walkie and returning his attention to Gabriel. "I'll have Kairi take you there." He pressed a small red button near his seat and started talking. "Kairi, please come into my office."

Only moments later, Kairi had walked gracefully into Sora's office, glancing over at Gabriel and briefly at the wound, then back to Sora. "You called me?" she asked, the innocence in her voice easily noticeable.

"Would you mind escorting Gabriel here to the infirmary? Aerith's already got a bed ready for him, and we need to get that wound of his checked and healed."

"Not at all!" she giggled, turning to face Gabriel. "C'mon, Gabe. Let's get you fixed up."

"Yes, ma'am..."

Through numerous turns and twists, and through the help of an elevator, Gabriel and Kairi managed their way to the infirmary. As they approached the doors, she ushered him inside, and turned back around to carry on with her day.

"Here you go, kiddo. Make sure you get it fixed up, all right?"

Gabriel turned to face her, a light smile on his face. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

He approached an empty bed, assuming it was the one he was arranged to lay on. Sure enough, Aerith, the school's nurse, walked into the room from the back area. Her hair was long and brown, but tied in a pony tail that barely went down past her spine. She had to tie it while on duty; it was a health and safety hazard if it was just flowing otherwise.

"You're the one Sora sent me?" she exclaimed. "I can see why. That wound looks terrible!"

"Yes, ma'am..."

"Oh, there's no need to be stingy with me." She grabbed a small surringe and injected it into the wound, exhaling a squeal from Gabriel. The pain was a stinging sensation, though it lasted only a short while. As soon as the needle had left his body, the small drips of blood that gushed forth were blocked by his hands. Aerith had gestured for him to lay on the bed, which he did with full compliance. As he did, she hovered her two hands over his wound, and slowly, but surely, it started to ease and disappear through the power of healing magic. His wound may have looked severe, but really, it was a simple strike to the flesh.

"There. All better."

He slowly rose back to his feet, able to fully walk and not have to hide a limp any longer. "Thank you, ma'am."

She giggled at his resemblance to one of her friends. "Get yourself back to your dorm. Have a good night."

He smiled at her, but only slightly, as he left the room. "Yeah, you too."

As he took a few steps down the hallway, he was suddenly bombarded by a tight, squeezing hug from behind. The warmth of the arms around him had given him a very good guess as to who it was.

"Ashley."

He turned while still in his embrace, and he smiled at her. She glanced up at him, looking right into his face.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop this from happening..."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

At first, she didn't respond, but her face lit with a smile when he heard him speak again.

"Wanna walk back together?"

Her heart leapt higher than it was before. She rapidly nodded, gently grabbing hold of his hand and walking to his dorm room on the fourth floor. They had kept silent the whole trip, and even though they remained as such, both knew they didn't really have to say anything. The silence, the situation, and the scenery did all the talking for them. Only a short while after, they had found Shane standing impatiently outsde of his room. As soon as he saw Gabriel, he bolted over to him and held out his hand.

"Dude, where were you? Patrick left this for you!"

Gabriel and Ashley looked down at his hand, only to see something increasingly peculiar.

"A...letter?" 


	3. An Old Struggle

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 3: An Old Struggle

"What does it say, Gabriel?"

It had only been a second after he had been handed the letter that both Ashley and Shane suddenly turned into little children, their curiosity peeking into being flat-out nosey. Giving in to their childish banter, he flipped the lid of the envelope open with his pointer finger, taking out the letter and unfolding it, whilst preparing to read it aloud so as to save time and annoyance.

"Meet me in the arena at 10 PM tonight. I'll finish what I started there."

She paused, then took a cautious step backwards. Patrick wasn't ready to let things go like this. Shane, on the other hand...

"Oh, wow! A letter of challenge!" He wrapped his right arm around Gabriel's shoulder. "Looks like you're still Mr. Famous!"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so."

"So...are you gonna go?" He grinned sheepishly.

He smiled slightly. "Do I have a choice? He's not gonna let it go until I MAKE him."

"But...Your wound!" blurted a concerned Ashley. "You just got it healed, and you're gonna go fight your childhood rival! You're insane!" Her voice went from a kind, passionate young woman to a strict, disciplinary mother.

"I know," admitted Gabriel, "But you said it yourself; he's my childhood rival. I know how bad he can get. So this is how I'm gonna settle it."

Shane glanced up at the clock in the hallway. Of course, fate had to have it so that Gabriel didn't have any real time to rest and heal himself.

It was only a quarter til the hour of destiny.

A gulp escaped the throats of two of the three teens, and Gabriel released himself from Shane's grip to head for the elevator. Refusing to accept this, Ashley had quickly grabbed ahold of his arm.

"Stop! I'm not letting you go any further!"

He turned around to face his concerned friend, and he smiled warmly. "You wanna go with me, then?"

"What?"

"I could use you in the stands, cheering me on."

At first, the comment offended her. But then, she realized that he didn't mean what he said in an ill manner. It was a request, and she felt that her presence truly made a difference in his life. He accepted her, and it made her feel weightless. She nodded slightly, going against all of her better judgment.

"I still don't like this idea."

"That's okay," Gabriel said, smiling. "You don't have to."

She giggled. But she could feel tears coming. Still, she did her best to force them away. She knew that she would witness her best friend suffer an immense beating; there was no way he could come out of this fight a winner. Not in his current condition.

Still, duty called, and Gabriel was most certainly there to answer. At last, he approached the arena, and sure enough, Patrick was there, just as he demanded him to be.

"Glad you didn't pussy out, loser!" Patrick mocked, taking a slight glance at the wound that had previously plagued his rival.

"You're really this upset? You wanna kill me that badly?"

Kill...The word stung through Ashley's heart as a knife forged of orichalcum normally would.

Patrick chuckled. "If I do, then so be it."

That was where the line had to be drawn. Agreeing with her better judgment, she stepped in front of the two rivals, stretching her arms out in front of them so as to signal stopping them.

"I'm not letting either of you do that! That's against all the rules! There's no reason to kill anybody!"

Within the span of a moment, she felt an enormous sting strike her in the back of the head. She tumbled to the ground, and the spot she was struck exuded blood from her flesh. Gabriel had caught her in his arms before she fell, and his hands were dipped in her blood. She wasn't unconscious, but her breathing was staggered. He glanced back up to Patrick, who wore a grin of pride and insanity.

"You sick bastard..."

"She was in my way, dipshit. And so are you!"

He leapt at Gabriel, but he managed to dodge the attack with Ashley in his arms. He dashed over to the end of the arena, and he set her down. Her vision was blurred, but she could still make out her friend's face.

"Come with me to the stands!" Gabriel demanded, taking her hand and leading her up to the stands overlooking the arena. He sat her down and tore off a piece of his shirt, using it to soak up the blood on the back of her head. He held it there for a few seconds, and inbetween this time, he had kissed her on the forehead to keep her attention and prevent her from blacking out. There were tears in her eyes, but she wasn't crying. But she was on the verge of breaking down.

"Please...don't go down there," she begged him. "I don't want you to die..."

He kissed her forehead again while repositioning the cloth back on her head. He smiled at her, and he witnessed that her vision was starting to clear. She was regaining her entirety of consciousness.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, smiling warmly at his friend. "You sit tight here, and I'll be back shortly."

He turned to face the direction of his enemy, and he leapt down to meet him, readying his Keyblade, the Wayward Wind, for battle.

"About damn time!" exclaimed Patrick. "So, is your little girlfriend gonna make it?"

He tightened his grip on the Wayward Wind's hilt, and an angry glare trailed through his eyes. He surprised Patrick as he dashed forward, his weapon ready to strike him dead-center.

"I'd worry about what I'm about to do to YOU!" He stabbed his blade forward, barely missing his target. But this didn't stop him from attacking, and so, he lifted his free leg up in the air, and soon after, slammed it back down on top of Patrick's head. His face plummeted into the ground, obviously damaging himself severely.

But again, that didn't stop him.

Gabriel reached down and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and with a single toss, he struck his enemy straight in the torso as he came back down, sending him flying into a nearby wall. However, the impact barely made a difference, and he crept out of the indent on the wall with a toothy grin on his face. Gabriel's spine chilled in shock.

"What the hell are you doing standing up!" he shouted. "That should've knocked you out, at least!"

"You're so stupid!" exclaimed his enemy. "Don't you remember? I picked Earth!"

"But what does that-Wait..."

"You really ARE an idiot," he retored. "Every single student was given an element to master, and although I haven't perfected it, I'm damn near that point!"

"I forgot all about that," replied Gabriel. "The element of Earth makes one's body almost as hard as stone. It gives them superior endurance, much more than all other elements do."

"Damn straight!" he chuckled. "Looks like YOU'RE the one who didn't do his homework this time!"

Gabriel smirked, and after readying his blade for another attack, he charged once again toward Patrick. He charged towards Gabriel in kind.

"First time for everything!"

He flipped over his opponent, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he swept Patrick's legs, tumbling him down onto the ground and on his back, almost defenseless. He flipped back into the air and readied his attack, diving down and attempting to stab right through Patrick. His enemy was smart enough to retaliate, however, and he prepared by quickly launching to his feet. But to his surprise, Gabriel made a quick maneuver, changing his strategy. He dashed out of the way in midair, and before Patrick could process what had just happened before his eyes, he felt the massive pain of a punch, square in his cheek bone. The mark left an indent on his fleshy patch, and drops of blood spilled from the spot.

"What the hell was that!" demanded Patrick, wiping the blood off of his face and onto his hands.

Gabriel backstepped away from his enemy, and he smiled. "Just as you can use your chosen element to your advantage, I can do the same thing."

"Dammit! I didn't think you'd figure it out!"

"Please. If a moron like you can do it..."

He sprung forward, dashing once again torwards his enemy, preparing a right-hook. But right before he landed it, he performed a swift Reversal behind Patrick and struck him in the back with his Keyblade, inducing unimaginable pain into his enemy. He tried to turn to face Gabriel, but it was proven he was too weak to possess even that much strength. He plummeted to the ground, unconscious and out of energy. It was obvious that the fight was over.

"Anyone can do it."

Shane had arrived just before the final blow, and he glanced over to see Ashley in the stands. He walked over to Gabriel carefully, a slight smile on his face.

"So, what'd I miss?"

He just glared at him, giving him a faint smile. Suddenly, he felt a sharp, stinging pain in his body. As he glanced over to where the pain was coming from, it was apparent as to what had happened.

His wound had reopened.

"Son of a bitch!" shouted Gabriel, and Shane immediately tended to him, kneeling to his level and attempting to keep him under control. He sprung back to his feet and dashed towards the other direction.

"Stay there! I'm gonna get help!" His legs moved him almost as fast as his mouth did.

His vision was blurring. His hands were going numb. The pain was taking away his breath. His muscles were giving in, and finally, at last, the pain had become too overwhelming for him to endure. He fell to the ground in exhaustion, his body only inches away from Patrick's. He found enough energy to turn his head towards his defeated opponent, and he barely found the power to stretch his arm out to give him one last punch to the face, but it was so light, it would be considered a love tap at best. His arm fell immediately afterwards. His face formed a slightly open smile, and his eyes slowly started to shut themselves.

"Looks like...I win again."

His eyes shut completely, and his breathing came to a silent halt. He had slipped out of his consciousness.

It was only moments after that Shane, Sora, and Riku had arrived to help them, but alas, they were too late.

"What the hell happened here!" demanded Sora.

"Sir," stated Shane, running over to Gabriel, "I don't think now is the best time for explanations! These two need serious medical help, NOW!"

"Yes, of course!" He reached for his black walkie. "Aerith! I need two stretchers here in the arena, stat!"

"Right away, Sora!"

Riku had ran over to Patrick, kneeling down and trying to find signs of life. "Hang in there, kid!" he demanded. "Help's on the way!"

Ashley had leapt down from the stands and over to meet the two headmasters. Sora and Riku glanced at her, and they noticed the swelling in the back of her head.

"Ashley, what happened to you?" asked Sora.

"It was Patrick. He...struck me in the back of the head."

"That ignorant kid..."

"What happened to Gabriel? Is he gonna be okay?"

"I promise you, we're gonna get him and Patrick taken care of. Why don't you follow us to the infirmary when the stretchers get here? That way, we'll get that bump of yours checked out, too."

She nodded. "Okay."

In the nick of time, stretchers had arrived, and Sora, Riku, Ashley, and Shane had cooperated to lift the two incapacitated fighters to their proper stretchers. They ran for the infirmary as fast as possible, eager to get them the medical help they needed. 


	4. Mission of Exile

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 4: Mission of Exile

"Oww...My head..."

Gabriel had awoke to find himself lying on a rather comfortable bed in the facility's Infirmary, with Patrick's unconscious body sleeping silently merely ten or so feet away from him in another bed.

"Hey! Good to see you're awake!" Shane's voice exclaimed, ringing Gabriel's ears.

"Shane...? Where's Patrick?"

He pointed his finger over to the other side of the room, directly at the sleeping hardhead.

"He's right over there, sleepin'. Just like you, except he's been here longer."

Gabriel slowly shook his head, holding his right hand onto his forehead. "What happened?" he asked. "I remember beating Patrick, but that's about it..."

"You passed out, like a light," replied Shane with a grin. "Ashley, Sora and I brought you here, and Riku took care of Patrick."

"I see..." He reverted his gaze to the blanket that covered his lower body.

"Sora, Riku, and Kairi are all discussing how this should be resolved," Shane continued.

"Resolved?" He looked back up at the blonde boy.

"Well, duh," he snickered. "You were stupid enough to agree with this. Not only were you out past 9-the student curfew-but you ALSO raised your Keyblade against a fellow student, not to mention you voluntarily commited an act of violence."

He was speechless. It was true; he was the fool here for agreeing to Patrick's terms. It was, in essence, his fault.

"All of these things," continued Shane, "Are punishable by exile. You could be expelled from campus, and you won't be allowed back on for any reason whatsoever."

"Damn..." whispered Gabriel, his pertaining guilt increasing at the mere thought of expulsion.

"So that means Patrick DID win, after all," Shane grinned.

Gabriel shook his head. "No, he didn't," he replied. "If this passes, we'll BOTH be gone. For good."

He crossed his arms and smirked at the injured boy. "Maybe that's what he wanted to begin with."

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Who knows? I don't care." He lightly patted Gabriel's shoulder as he rose back to his feet, and he started for the door. "We'll get some more info when he wakes up. 'Til then, take it easy. I'll be back later."

He turned around to face the door once more.

"...Shane," Gabriel interrupted.

"Yeah-huh?"

"...Thanks. You saved Ashley."

He smiled and shook his head. "Yup."

"And you helped me so that I wouldn't have to worry about her. I...I have to thank you for that."

"Hmm..." He scratched his chin in pride. "Well, when you get better, just treat me to some chinese food."

Gabriel laughed slightly. "All right," he nodded. "Sounds fair."

"Good!" cheered Shane, suddenly growing extatic. "Now, hurry up and heal. I'm in the mood for some chinese food!"

He continued his walk outside of the Infirmary, leaving Gabriel to himself. Shortly afterwards, Sora and Riku entered the room. Riku sat down in the same chair Shane had previously occupied.

"Glad to see you're awake, Gabriel."

"Yes, sir..." His voice was only slightly audible, for his shame took over most of his other thoughts.

"Sora and Kairi are still discussing what should be done about this whole mess. I decided to take a breather and come check up on you guys."

"Is he gonna make it?" he asked, seemingly unconcerned.

"Well," he sighed, "He's taken quite the beating. He's suffered a lot of blows, some of which were to his vital organs. He'll be out for a while, that's for sure."

"I'm sorry..." admitted Gabriel.

"You did it out of self-defense," retorted Riku.

"What?"

"I heard all about the note," he said, nodding with a smile. "And I read all about this little arrangement. It WAS your fault, though, since you agreed to meet him after student hours." He rose to his feet and walked over to Gabriel, placing his hand gently on his shoulder and shooting him a slight smile.

"We'll figure something out for you guys. Relax."

Gabriel nodded slowly. "T-Thank you..."

At this moment, Sora and Kairi had walked straight into the room, both with a calm and collective expression on their faces. They certainly didn't seem upset.

"Glad to see you're awake," Sora laughed.

"Thank you, sir," replied Gabriel, his shame once again almost deafening his voice.

"Now," started Kairi, "We've all discussed what should be done with you and Patrick."

A wave of tension crunched into Gabriel's arms, tightening his muscles. His ears twitched slightly, waiting to hear that he would no longer be attending this school.

"We have a proposition for you," Sora continued. "Since Patrick is going to be out for a while, we want you to take on his mission for him."

"Huh?" That was obviously the LAST thing he expected to hear.

"Yes," Riku replied. "We had originally planned on sending him to Twilight Town."

"Wait," interrupted Gabriel," I thought you guys said that those missions are only for those who score higher than 400 points on the entrance exam."

Sora scratched the back of his head in irritation. "It's not like he earned it or anything," he admitted. "We were going to give it to him to show him that Twilight Town NEEDS to be saved for the elites, and that's why we can't just hand those missions out to anybody."

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "So, I have to ask, how exactly do you guys...grade us?"

"Well," Kairi began, "The score you get for the entrance exam is decided based on three values. Of course, there's the written exam, where you can score up to 100 points maximum. Then, the individual battle exam we have each student do before the first semester. You can score up to another 100 points in that exam. Then, finally, the actual Battle Exam we have here at the main campus, which you can score up to a maximum of 300 points."

"Depending on how well you do in each of those exams," continued Riku, "Your score is added up and we announce the totals after the Battle Exam. Of course, all you have to do to get 100 points on the first exam is get every question right. The second exam, it all depends on how quickly and accurately you complete the battle. And for the Battle Exam, there are numerous factors that influence your points."

"You see," Sora caught on, "There are a few very important things we grade you on during the Battle Exam. One of those things is, if you haven't guessed already, how often you assist your fellow students. The more you assist them, the more points you are given. Your total enemy count also increases your points; the more Heartless you defeat, the higher your score will be. How often you get hit is one of the more drastic influences to your total score. For every time you get hit, you lose 10 points. This indicates that you're not exactly ready for the real thing yet, so we have to hold you back until we feel you're ready."

Gabriel rapidly shook his head to snap himself back into reality, since he had dozed off almost halfway through the long explanation. "So, what exactly do you need me to do?"

"We need you to find a missing person," stated Kairi.

"A missing person?"

"Yes," replied Riku. "She's a friend of ours. Her name is Yuffie."

"Correct," replied Sora. "She's supposed be here for...erm...well, she's going to be a new teacher here."

"Okay...?" Gabriel nodded slowly. "What does she look like?"

"Oh," snickered Kairi, "You'll know her when you see here. She's very...distinctive."

Gabriel's eyes blinked rapidly in confusion. "W-Well, I'll do it. So when do I leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," Sora said. "For now, we want you to get some more rest and relax. I'll put you on the assignment tonight, so be ready by tomorrow, okay?"

"Got it."

"Then rest well."

The three directors left the room, once again leaving Gabriel alone with an incapacitated rival. He glanced over at Patrick, whose pillow was almost consumed in saliva, and he returned his gaze over to the door, shuttering at the awkward sight of his enemy sleeping in a puddle of his own drool. He started to ponder the thoughts of his new mission, going to Twilight Town and finding a missing person. Who was this Yuffie? What was she like? Was she old? Young? How did Sora and the others know of them?

"This could be interesting." 


	5. Yuffie Kisiragi

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 5: Yuffie Kisiragi

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, the story will take place in Gabriel's point of view. I will periodcally change POV's, and I will let you know during the story when a different POV is used. Thank you.

"I'm all set, sir."

Sora, the commander of the KMS, stood merely ten feet away from me as I tightened the strap around my belt. Strict, yet comfortable around my waist. I was ready for what would come my way next.

"Good!" exclaimed Sora. "Then let's get you there. Step into the transporter to your right; it'll take you to Twilight Town."

I complied with his order, stepping into the pulsating machine without a second thought. I felt my body being dragged into it, some kind of unknown force pulling me in and accelerating me through the air at an alarming speed. I was on my way to Twilight Town.

I had heard a lot of things about Twilight Town, but regrettably, I had never once been there in person. If there was one word I could use to describe it, "warm" would be that word. A gorgeous sunset shined over the buildings, reflecting just the right amount of light off of the roofs and onto the streets. There was a cool, gentle breeze blowing the tips of my hair and through my clothes, and it was nothing short of refreshing. I was standing on a slumped piece of land, almost like a hill, leading upwards to an alley-like street. As I started my way up the hill, a rather colorful-and very peculiar-creature approached me. To my surprise, it was a she, and even more surprising, it could speak.

"Excuse me!" she implored. "Have you seen a man with blonde hair, blue clothes, and a tail?"

"A...tail?" I echoed, crossing my arms together. I scratched my head in confusion. "Sorry. I haven't seen anybody like that pass by here. I just arrived a few moments ago."

"Arrived?" She mimicked my arm motions. "So, that means you're from the outside world, then?"

I angled my position, etching slightly forward so as to be on the defensive. "Yes. That's right."

She snickered slightly, putting her left hand over her mouth. "You don't have to get defensive. You just seem to stick out here."

I shook my head rapidly, returning to the subject at hand. "Now, let me ask you something."

"Hmm?"

"I'm looking for a girl named Yuffie. Have you seen her anywhere around here?"

She shook her head and sighed heavily. "You're looking for THAT girl? She's so annoying..."

I blinked in confusion. "Well, uhh...Have you seen her?"

"Yes." She gestured her finger to the other side of town, pointing at an area being overlooked by a post. "She's in the Sandlot right now. You can find her getting ready for the Struggle Tournament."

Struggle tournament? What's that...?

"Thanks," I said, turning back to face her. "By the way, I'm Gabriel. What's your name?" I held out my hand to shake, and she took it with a slight smile.

"Well met," she replied. "My name is Freya. Freya Crescent."

"Freya...Got it. Thanks for the info."

She nodded in respect. "See you around."

I waved my hand to her as I walked towards the Sandlot, and she turned to face the other direction, walking off while muttering some words to herself.

"Dammit, Zidane...Where did you go?"

I walked into the Sandlot, only to be completely unimpressed. It was just a simple place, topped with a few wooden benches and a decent-sized box that must have been some kind of arena. I could tell by the marks on the surface of it; they were obviously caused by the impact of some kind of club.

"It seems to desolate..."

"That's 'cause the Struggle Tournament's not on right now!" exclaimed a voice from behind me. I turned to face it to see a man with messy blonde hair and hazel-colored eyes, his body covered in a green and black long-sleeved shirt and khaki pants. He had a cheeky grin split across his face. I let my guard down; I knew he wasn't capable of hurting me.

"Who're you?" I asked.

"'Sup?" he said, giving me a thumbs up. Name's Hayner!"

"I'm Gabriel," I replied. "I'm from the KMS."

He scratched his head in confusion. "KMS...? Oh! You must mean that thing Sora and his friends started."

I gave him a slightly suspicious look. "You know Sora?"

He grinned at me, almost sheepishly. "'Course I do! My wife does, too!"

I blinked at him. "Your...wife?"

Just then, a rather attractive young woman approached Hayner and put her hand on his shoulder. She had curved brown hair and peridot eyes, and she was wearing a lovely orange dress that stretched down past her knees. I could also tell simply by looking at her that she and Hayner were expecting.

"Hayner? Who's this?"

He motioned his hand towards me. "This is Gabriel, one of Sora's friends."

I motioned my hands in a waving formation, signaling that wasn't the truth. "I-I'm more like his student," I corrected.

"Oh! That's wonderful!" she replied. "My name's Olette. I'm Hayner's wife."

I felt my cheeks get a little warmer. "N-Nice to meet you."

She blinked at me, concerned. "You seem distracted..."

I rapidly shook my head. "N-No! I'm not!"

I glanced over at Hayner, who was suspiciously crossing his arms while glaring at me. He shot me a certain look; one that said "Back off, kid. She's mine." Not that I was really interested in her like that, anyway.

I felt it necessary to change the mood of the conversation. "A-Anyways, have either of you seen-"

"HIIIYAAAAAHHH!" I heard a loud shout from behind me, and I rapidly turned in that direction. There was a girl dressed in a short, skimpy black skirt and protector, topped off with a white bandana spread across her forehead. She had just finished pounding the living hell out of some old-looking man. I could only assume he was after her for...well, indecent purposes.

"Take THAT!" she said, forming her hands into fists and punching the air rapidly. "That'll teach you to mess with Yuffie Kisiragi!"

My heart sank at those last words. I was almost dumbfounded that she was the girl I was looking for.

Olette stepped forward, shaking her head in disappointment. "You'd figure she'd be a lot more mature for someone close to thirty years old."

Wow...Thirty? But she looks so...young.

"Huh?" said Yuffie, turning to see Hayner, Olette and I in the distance. "Oh! Heeeey! Hayner and Olette!" She flipped into the air and landed only a few feet away from me, causing me to step back in surprise.

"H-Hello, Yuffie," said Olette, slightly startled by her sudden and unexplainable maneuvers.

"Hola!" she giggled. She glanced over at me, her smile turning to a curious frown. "Hey, wait...who's the twerp?"

Twerp?

"This is Gabriel," interceded Hayner. "One of Sora's students."

"Oh yeah?" Her face lit with a grin. She patted my head playfully. "So, what grade are YOU in, little boy?"

It took every ounce of restraint I possessed to force myself not to pick her up by the arm and throw her halfway across town. Luckily, I managed.

"...Junior," I muttered, audible enough for them to hear me.

"An upper classmen, huh?" she laughed. "Cool, cool!"

I turned my whole body to face her. "Yuffie, I've been looking for you. I need you to come with me back to the KMS."

"Huh...?" she blinked. "But why?"

I shrugged my shoulders in irritation. "How the hell should I know? Sora just told me to come and get you. That was my mission. That's why I'm here."

She forced her lips into a pout, and she exhaled slightly in the form of one. "So by the book, aren't you?" she snapped. She motioned her hand in a casual manner. "Fine, fine. Let's go back, then."

She jumped and skipped forwards, far ahead of me. Suddenly, I fely Hayner's hand on my shoulder.

"It was nice meeting you, kid," he said with a genuine smile.

I smiled slightly, trying my best to show some enthusiasm. "Yeah. You two, as well.

Olette came up to me and hugged me tightly, letting go after a few seconds. "And please, come back soon so we can see you again!"

My cheeks were burning up. "Y-Yes, ma'am. I-I'll come back someday."

I hurried myself forward to catch up with Yuffie, who was watching with a sinister grin in the distance. As we walked back to where I came from, I activated the teleporter and stepped through. She looked at me with the same grin still stretched across her face. I couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

"You were totally looking at her boobs."

I felt my face burn even more furiously. "I-I was not!"

"Whatever. You so were."

"G-Get real! No, I wasn't!"

She poked my flaming cheek with a puffy grin on her face. "And she's pregnant, too! That means she's they're all perky and soft, and they're-"

"That's enough!" I shouted, slapping her hand away from my face. "Jeez, you're so damn annoying!" I turned away from her as we walked back into the KMS building. She grinned at me and pecked me on the cheek, causing my cheeks to blush even more. Sora and Riku had walked into the area just as we arrived, and Yuffie walked over to them with a smile.

"'Sup, guys! What's happenin'?"

"Good to see you again, Yuffie," replied Sora with a smile. "Come on. We're all about to have a meeting in my office."

"Okie dokes," she replied, walking along with them back to Sora's office.

But something was wrong. I could taste it in the air. I could feel it tracing along the atmosphere. Sora was hiding something from her, from his students-from everyone. And I could tell it was something big. Huge, even. What was it all about? Why did he need me to go all the way to Twilight Town just to find some annoying ninja girl and bring her all the way back? There had to be some kind of purpose behind all of this.

But I wasn't all that determined to figure it out. 


	6. Back at the KMS

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 6: Back at the KMS

I had just barged into Sora's office, hoping to get some kind of closure to my whole expulsion. Everyone in the room glanced at me, giving me center stage.

"Ahh, Gabriel!" said Sora, surprised and happy to see me. "I'm glad you could stop by. I just wanted to thank you for your work."

I bowed in thanks. "It was my pleasure, sir."

His face lit with a smile. "That's why...I've decided to revoke your expulsion."

I felt my heart leap bounds. "You mean-"

"Yes," he interrupted cheerfully. "You and Patrick can stay here. Neither one of you will be expelled."

I put my hand to my heart and exhaled heavily. "Phew...Thank you very much, sir."

He pointed a finger at me with a half-smile. "Just don't do it again," he ordered. "Or else next time, I'll have no choice BUT to expel you."

I gulped. "Y-Yes, sir." That was my sign to leave the room, and so, I did, not even thinking of looking back.

-SORA'S POV-

That Gabriel...I can't help it if he's one of my best students. A strong heart, a fast mind, and a powerful warrior to boot. Perhaps, if anything should happen...

"Yuffie," I suddenly responded, "I assume you know why I called you here?"

She pondered for a moment. "Uhh...I could...take a guess."

She stood between Squall and Cid, along with all of the other members of our board: Tifa, Vincent, Barret, Cloud, and Aerith. Our most skilled instructors...and our most powerful fighters.

"It's about him..." said Riku, crossing his arms with a deathly frown on his face.

"Him?" asked Yuffie. "Who is...him?"

I glanced downwards in thought, shaking my head slightly and squinting my eyes shut. "His name...is Stroup. He's an incredibly skilled Keyblade wielder who is coming to the KMS very soon."

Yuffie shrugged her shoulders. "So? What's wrong with that?"

Riku stepped forward to speak. "He wasn't supposed to come into this school in the first place."

Kairi nodded. "Right. As you all know, the Grand Council are in charge of who is allowed to enrolled. They make the final calls after receiving all of the data we give them."

"Stroup's data was phenominal," Riku continued. "He aced all of his tests-the Written Exam, the Mission Exam, and even the Battle Exam."

"In other words," I added, "Not only is he a skilled fighter, but he's incredibly intelligent and extremely mysterious."

Once again, Yuffie shrugged her shoulders. "I still don't see the problem, here."

Riku glanced at her with a slightly distraught look. "Stroup is only so powerful...because he's a warrior of the darkness."

She gasped lightly at the sound of those words.

"Not only that," I continued, "But Stroup has...a very LONG history of causing havoc and chaos through the universe."

"Whaddya mean?" she asked, slightly hesitant to hear the answer.

"He feels no remorse for things that even we lose sleep over," replied Kairi.

"Like what?" asked Yuffie, her legs starting to shake.

I looked at her, my face as serious as can be. "If I had to pick one of the things he's done in the past...I'd go with murder."

She jumped backwards, shocked by my words. But then, she regained her balance, and she slammed her hands onto my desk.

"So they're letting a killer enroll into this school?" she demanded. "That's insane! How can they be so damn stupid!?"

I shook my head in dismay. "The Grand Council are unaware of his past. That's why we haven't been able to get him kicked off of the admission list."

"Then why don't you tell them about the things he's done?" she ordered. "They need to know how dangerous this guy is! Think of your students! Think of all of us!"

I stood from my chair and looked at her, and she backed off a little bit when she saw the tension in my eyes. "We can't kill him ourselves," I said. "If we did, it would be viewed as murder and we would also be executed."

"And we can't have that," stated Tifa. "None of us can die now. Not when all of this is about to happen."

"Exactly," agreed Riku.

I slid back into my chair, hesitant to even speak. "I know Stroup is evil. I know he's going to be a nuisance-a threat-to all around him. Even us. But..."

My friends all looked at me with a look of distress and disbelief.

"What am I supposed to do about it?" I asked, feeling the pressure crush my hope. "All I can do is discipline him if he breaks our rules when he finally DOES enroll. The Grand Council have forbade me to do anything else. They've prohibited you all from doing anything, too. There's seriously no way we can stop this from happening."

"All we can do," replied Tifa, "Is prepare for his arrival. And when he comes, just watch him. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, and make sure he doesn't go anywhere alone."

"Hey," blurted Cid, "How long we got 'til this kid shows up, anyway?"

I looked over to him. "Stroup will be arriving within the next few days. He's coming shortly after another one is. Her name is Lizzie, and she's second on my admission list."

"Few days, huh?" he returned. "Doesn't sound like too much we can do, anyway."

Squall saluted me in his formal SeeD fashion. "All we can do now is prepare for his arrival, and stop him from harming any of our students."

"Right," everyone said simultaneously.

I once again rose from my chair, this time with a smile. "Everyone, I thank you all for coming to this meeting. You're dismissed."

One by one, my friends left the room, leaving only me, Riku, and Kairi to stand alone in this office. She walked closer to me, taking my hand.

"Sora...I'm scared..."

"Don't be," I said, carressing her cheek with my hand. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

She smiled warmly at the sound of my words. But then, I heard Riku exhale a moan of protest from the other side of the room.

"Can't you guys get a room or something? I'm still here, y'know."

Kairi pointed to my office door, signaling for Riku to leave. "We already found one. You can leave at anytime."

He shrugged, walking out the door and into the hallway. I heard him mutter some words to himself before he left the room, and they made me smile.

"Geez...Even after ten years, they still act like kids." 


	7. Begin Mission!

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 7: Begin Mission!

-GABRIEL'S POV-

Today was the day we finally got our first real missions as teams.

I honestly didn't get too excited; I knew who was going to be on my team, just like they were whenever I was here for my first year. Nothing new. As always.

Ashley, Hunter, and Damion were all standing behind me, a look of eagerness in their eyes. I was probably the only one in the entire auditorium with a calm, almost blank, look on his face. This was all so boring to me; it was going to turn out the same way as it did two years before this.

"Today, we will be splitting you all into teams of three," said Sora, standing atop the stage with a microphone near his lips. "Now, I know some of you are already disappointed with this. But I'm not a bad guy! Really! So I don't mind if you guys all join in teams of four. But that's as far as I'll let it go." He grinned sheepishly at his students, where most of them simply shrugged and started to disband searching for teammates. Of course, the first three people to come up to me were-

"As always, right?" I said, turning around to face my three friends.

"Right," said Ashley, winking at me. "As always." She stepped closer to me, a smile across her beautiful face.

"Me, too!" exclaimed Hunter, walking over to the two of us.

"I'm in," said Damion, walking slightly behind Hunter.

"All right, that was easy enough," I said, chuckling slightly.

Only moments later, the entire student population had already found their teams, some divided into three and others four. Though it was hard to see the groups of four; it was almost impossible to really see what kind of formations were around. All of the students were still spread out like they were before. It was a mess of unorganized people, to be sure.

"Now," continued Sora, "Please organize yourselves so that we can get you through this process quickly and efficiently. Everyone, make sure to have your school ID's on you. They were given to you upon your entry exams, provided you pass."

He was right, as usual. I, of course, didn't find myself particularly fond of these ridiculous ID's; it was just another way for the school to function properly at the disapproval of its students. I can understand why they existed. They were with us to ensure that we were, indeed, who we claimed to be. And yes, there may come a time in history-even if it's far beyond our time-where someone will be so brainless as to intrude onto school grounds, someone who is obviously not a student. How they will go about doing this, I am uncertain, since the school is an island surrounded by a bunch of other islands. And water. And I know that the only way to get here normally would be the ferry between the pier and this island. It's how all of us get to and from the school during vacations, as well.

So we walked over to a desk, with Riku sitting down behind it, examining our ID's and having the students officially registered into the system. It wasn't any less than an hour and a half that we were finally given our turn. It felt more like a year and a half to some, but only to the people waiting behind us. We were smart enough-and lucky enough-to get a place in line relatively early in the whole registration process. As we finally approached the desk, Riku glanced up at us and laughed slightly.

"There he is! Mr Gabriel!" he played, laughing between words.

I chuckled slightly at his enthusiasm. "Hello, sir." I placed my ID card on the desk, and the others followed my example. "We're ready to be registered.

"No problem," he replied, taking the ID cards and swiftly turning in his chair to use the machine behind him. It was a rather small machine, and small little pecks of rust were on the edges and corners. In the center was a small sliding port, only big enough for our ID cards to swipe through. It was pretty convenient, but only if you were a student. And only if you were ready to get yourself registered for your first real mission.

He turned back around in his chair, smiling at us while handing our cards back to me. "There you go," he said. "You guys are all set. Your first mission will be in Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town?" asked Ashley. "That doesn't sound so hard. What do we have to do?"

"When you go over to that teleporter over there," he started, pointing to the southwest direction, "The screen right next to it will ask for your team leader's ID card. Swipe it through the machine, and it will tell you to register a team name. When you're finished, it will give you a briefing on your current mission."

"Sounds easy enough," I said, turning back around after taking our ID cards. "Thanks." I walked with my team over to the southwest teleporter.

Taking my own ID card in hand, I swiped it to the side of the machine, and it beeped a peculiar sound into my ears. Within four seconds, it brought up another screen, and sure enough, it asked for me to input a team name. To be fair, this was probably the most annoying part of the whole process. No, it wasn't even waiting in line to eventually be seen and registered, and no, it wasn't even getting ready for the mission we received. It was this. The simple, yet aggressively annoying process of choosing a team name.

"What do you think, guys?" I asked my friends, turning around to face them.

"Hmm..." said Ashley, crossing her arms and pondering the thought. It seemed it was some kind of trend; Hunter and Damion did the same thing.

"How about Team Awesome!" Hunter offered.

I shook my head. "A little more creative, please?" I said, trying to be as nice about it as I could.

"Team Damion?" said the other halfwit. I would sooner be damned than go by that team name.

"No," I said plainly. I wasn't even going to try and be nice about that one.

"How about Team Rose?" Ashley suggested. That one actually struck me as creative. Why? Well, even though we have a pretty girl on our team, she's being protected by three men, but even so, she's not afraid-or even slightly hesitant-to take care of herself. She further proves the expression, "Every rose has its thorns."

"That's dumb," blurted Hunter. "Think of something us GUYS would like, too."

"Dumb!?" exclaimed Ashley, obviously a little enraged. "I'll have you know, it sounds like a wonderful team name! What's the problem with something that has a spark of elegance to it like that?"

"It's too girly," shrugged Hunter.

"No, it's not!" spat Ashley.

"Then why not let the leader decide?" interrupted Damion, turning to look at me with a half smile.

"Me?" I said, pointing to myself in confusion. I had to stand there and think for a moment. I originally had no intention on getting involved in this stupid banter, but I guess I didn't really have a choice either way. I stood there, pondering the thought for what seemed like half of an eternity, when in actuality, it was only roughly three minutes.

"How about...Team Aero?" I finally said.

"Aero?" asked Ashley. "Hey...that actually sounds kinda cool! I like it!"

"Yeah! I do, too!" grinned Hunter. "Nice one, Gabriel."

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Damion.

"Good," I said, nodding my head with a minor smile. "Then it's settled. We're going to be called Team Aero."

I turned back to the machine and I started to punch in the keys that corresponded to our team name. Finally, we were fully registered into the system, and sure enough, merely ten seconds later, our mission objective revealed itself onto the screen. I read it aloud to the others.

"Heartless are swarming around the Third District of Traverse Town in unusually large numbers. Go to Traverse Town and investigate this sudden outbreak of Heartless."

"Too easy!" laughed Hunter, a grin spread on his face. "We'll have this one knocked out in no time flat!"

"Right," I nodded. "Everyone, let's get going. Step into the Transporter."

They all complied with my order, and I soon stepped in as well. There were a series of buttons on the side of the Transporter, and all of them corresponded to a different world, having the world's initials on the button. I reached my finger over to press the button for Traverse Town. Only a second or so afterwards, we were on our way.

"Here we go!" exclaimed Ashley, grabbing onto my arm in excitement. "Our first mission together in the new year!" 


	8. Terra IX

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 8: Terra IX

We had arrived near a large, wooden gate that was obviously the exit to Traverse Town. Pushing the gate slightly, we slipped through the gap and entered. It was a busy little hamlet, with shops of all kinds littering the entirety of the area. Weapons, armor, accessories, and even items; whatever you were looking for, you could probably buy here. Naturally, this wasn't our concern, since we weren't here to go on any sort of shopping spree. We walked into the center of the area, and we decided to come up with some sort of plan.

"Where's the Third District?" asked Ashley.

"Hmm..."I pondered. "Well, I would assume this is the First District."

She blinked at me. "How come?"

"Well," interceded Damion, "Think about it. This is where all of the stores and merchants are setting up shop. Naturally, they'd do it in a place where they could easily get people's attention, and since the first area people usually visit is the First District...well, you get the point, right?"

"I think so," she nodded, slowly.

"At any rate," added Hunter, "We should stick together for now. I've got a bad feeling in my gut right now..." He looked off into the distance, as if he was seeing something looking right at him. I glanced over in his direction, and oddly enough, there was nothing there except for the buildings. I looked back at him with a bit of a skeptical look.

"You sure you're not just hungry?" Damion grinned, patting Hunter on the head.

"No!" he shouted. "Nothing like that. I dunno what it is...but I feel like someone-or something-is watching us."

I nodded my head slightly. "Well, we might as well listen to Hunter and stick together. If Heartless are really that plentiful around here, there's no point in getting separated and killed."

Ashley shuttered at the sound of the word "killed." I was certain that I knew why. It stung her something fierce every time the word was said, even if it wasn't from one of her friends. It was almost as if she had an abnormal fear of death, or just the word. Either way, every time I would catch a glimpse of it, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

We started on our way, running in the direction of the accessory shop. We located another set of double doors, still of a wooden structure. I pushed the door open, and the moment I did, and as soon as we entered the Second District, Heartless were seemingly triggered to spawn. There weren't too many to deal with, but they were of a more powerful caliber than the ones we had fought previously. I was staring into the eyes of the shield of a Defender. I readied my Keyblade, which was in the form of the Wayward Wind, for a battle, and within a few seconds, I had dispatched the mighty Heartless. Meanwhile, my friends were having good fortune with handling the group of Wyverns and Darkballs. Hunter almost finished one, but it disappeared into a thin cloud of dark smoke and then reappeared behind him, striking him and damaging his shoulder. I dashed up to the Heartless and struck it down, releasing the heart it had been holding captive. I took Hunter's hand and helped him back to his feet, and we started for the next district, at least whacking the Heartless that popped up along the way out of our line of vision. As we started moving forward, they started to spawn in larger quantities, but they were of a weaker status than the other ones we had just fought. These were merely Shadows and Soldiers, but there was a small army of each type ready to fight us. It was a sign that we were getting closer to our destination.

"Quick!" Ashley suddenly shouted. "Head down that alley!" She pointed her finger while we were running, and we followed her sudden order. We snuck down into the alley, only to be ambushed by a small group of Heartless, their leader being a Large Body. I jumped up and struck its head, sending it into a fit of rage, and Ashley cast a quick Blizzard spell to finish the job. Hunter and Damion had dealt with the Air Troopers, and so, they were all done for. We entered the next area through the door ahead of us, finally arriving in the Third District. We ran down the nearby staircase and down into the central plaza, catching our breath and regaining our posture.

"About time!" exclaimed Hunter, trying to catch his breath. "I'm sick of these stupid Heartless!"

As if fate were playing some kind of sick joke on us, the moment Hunter finished his sentence, numerous Defenders, Darkballs, Wizards, and Wyverns suddenly spawned before us, surrounding our team and preparing for a slaughter. The three of us glared at Hunter, and in unison, we shouted at him:

"You just had to open your damn mouth!"

We readied our weapons for the coming attack. I decided to take the Defenders, since I was much faster and they were the slowest of the group of Heartless. Jumping behind them, I struck their eyes with my Keyblade, causing them to disintegrate and release the hearts they had stolen. I then turned my attention to the Wyverns, and I decided to be a little cocky, and so, I dashed over to the one Ashley was fighting, and I jumped onto its back, pulling back its ears and forcing it to tumble into the ground, jumping off of its back right before impact. The Heartless disintegrated, and as Ashley dashed right past me, we shared a quick high-five as we went our separate ways on the battlefield.

Hunter and Damion were doing their best to take care of the Wizards and Darkballs. Most of the evil spherical monsters were already dispatched, but there were a few that remained, and they had already disappeared into their smoke forms. Right before one of them burst near the two, I stepped behind them and used a Reflect spell, not only blocking the attack, but redirecting the damage it was meant to inflict, instantly killing the Heartless. I sliced the others in half, killing them as well. Now all that was left were the Wizards, who were readying a cooperative Thunder spell, something I have never seen before. I wasn't about to let them have their way, so I ran towards them and threw my Keyblade at one of them, and I quickly jumped into the air to catch it back in my hand, then I charged back down while in midair, cutting straight through the Wizards right before they cast their devastating spell. As the tension was released, we had managed a breath of relief when we noticed every single Heartless was gone.

But what we didn't expect to hear afterwards was the sudden slow clapping that echoed through the entire plaza.

We readied ourselves, standing back to back, waiting for something to come out and attack us. Other than the clapping, the place was silent. Not a sound. We purked our ears so as to try and figure out where the clapping was coming from. It was at this time that we heard a voice.

"Not bad, kids! Not bad at all."

We turned to face the direction of the voice, only to discover a young man in a red-stained trenchcoat and a white sleeveless underneath it. His pants were also a shade of red, only they were darker. His hair was shaded to resemble a burning flame, and his eyes, under the shade of topaz, seemed to be on fire themselves. His face was lit with a cheeky grin, and he slowly yet surely stepped forth to meet us. He stopped at about fifteen feet away.

"I gotta admit, I didn't think Sora's students would be this good."

"Sora's students...?" I echoed. "How do you about Sora?" I poined my Keyblade directly at him, getting a little on the hostile side. "Answer me!"

He waved his hands in the air as if telling me to wait. "Now, now," he laughed, "No need to get so hasty. After all, we just met."

But as I looked down at his hands, I saw that one of them was engulfed in a raging flame. It was only a split second afterwards that I felt a gush of wind coming from his direction, and he had sprinted right towards us. Just in the nick of time, I maneged to block his hand from touching my body, and my three friends disbanded and readied their weapons. Soon after, they charged right at him with Keyblades blazing, only to be interrupted by a sudden strike from an unknown entity. They had been attacked by a gathering of water, shaped in the form of a massive spiked hammer. They were sent flying in different directions, and I briefly glanced over at them to see if they were all right. To my relief, they managed to get back up and ready their weapons again.

"I must say," a voice suddenly spoke, "You're terrible at giving first impressions."

It was a woman's voice, and she suddenly vaporized in front of the other man. Her long, sapphire hair seemed to dance through the air, and she was dressed in nothing but a rather revealing blue-jay corset, which barely went past her thighs. If she wasn't the enemy, I'd tell her she was sexy.

"Well," said the man of flames, "I can't help it when I get excited. You should know that already, Aquoseis."

She giggled slightly. "You're such a child, Infernos, ready to leap into action the moment a nail drops."

He grinned like an idiot. "You know it!"

I couldn't believe this. These people were the enemy, but they joked and played like them injuring us was nothing to think about. It enraged me, and it showed in my eyes. I readied my weapon again and charged for the woman, but before I could even attempt to strike her, I was stopped by a sudden gust of wind blowing me backwards and into a nearby wall. As a study of the wind, it didn't hurt as badly as it should have. I witnessed another man suddenly appear before the other two people, only this one was dressed in an emerald-colored tuxedo and dress pants. He looked like a very professional businessman, but I knew he wasn't. The only thing I knew about any of these people was that they were our enemies.

"Skyonnes," blurted Aquoseis, "You didn't have to be so hard on the boy. I could've easily dispatched him."

He turned around to her and smiled. "Well," he said, "I'm not particularly fond of making a lady do the fighting."

She laughed slightly. "Spare me your groundless sentiments."

He shook his head slightly. "I only do it because I have to. Master's orders."

Master...?

I broke out of my own indent in the wall, and I stood firmly on the ground. I witnessed my other friends run over to me, so as to stick together. Although we had more in number, they seemed to have far more in strength.

"You guys..." Hunter suddenly said, stepping forward slightly. "You're the ones who were watching us in the First District! I knew I wasn't just imagining things."

I seriously thought he was. But now's not the time to doubt anybody.

"Who are you guys?" he continued.

Our three colored enemies turned once again to face us, all of them with smiles on their faces.

"Terra IX," said Aquoseis.

"Terra...IX?"

"Yup," replied Infernos. "We're a group of people dedicated to finding the Syllabus of Fate!"

"What's that?" asked Ashley, a rather demanding tone in her voice.

"Allow me," said Skyonnes, stepping forward. "The Syllabus is considered to be the far more powerful shadow of Kingdom Hearts. When Kingdom Hearts is destroyed, the hearts that scatter are disbanded, and they flee. However, at that time, it is possible to construct something far stronger than Kingdom Hearts."

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"By using a certain artifact, it is possible to consume all of the hearts that are disbanded and gather them together, in order to create the shadow of Kingdom Hearts. When it takes form, the said artifact will give it a new shape, and with the new shape, a newfound power. It is at that time we will absorb that power, and then, become eternal. The power we will absorb is called the Syllabus of Fate, or the dark form of Kingdom Hearts."

"Yes," said Aquoseis. "The ten of us will become immortal beings, living on to destroy what we please forever."

"Ten?" ordered Hunter. "I thought you said there were nine of you, since you said Terra IX."

"Naturally," said another voice from behind the other three. It belonged to a rather huge, muscular, heavy man with light-brown hair and jet-black eyes. He was garmented with a brown chestplate and leg armor, and just as he walked, we felt the earth itself tremble with every step. This man was so powerful and so heavy, every step he took caused the earth around us to quiver in fear.

"We are only the underlings to our master," he continued, "Who does not consider himself amongst the numbers. It is understandable, though, since he far outweighs our strengths."

"Typical," Hunter insulted. "Just like a stuck-up asshole to not wanna include himself with his lower lackeys."

"Silence!" shouted the huge man, raising spikes from the ground and shooting them right at Hunter, who barely managed to dodge them.

"Calm yourself, Contisros," ordered Skyonnes, placing his hand on the man's shoulder. He glanced back towards us with a sinister smile. "I must apologize, but we have to go. I do hope that, the next time we meet, you all aren't so weak."

The group of enemies disappeared into nothing, almost as if they were never there to begin with.

This left us, as a team, to ponder what to do about this whole situation.

"Terra IX..." said Hunter. "I dunno about you guys, but they are seriously tough. There's no way all four of us could even beat ONE of them."

I sneered at the comment he made. I didn't want to believe him. Not in the least.

"I hate to admit it," Damion blurted, "But you're right. Those guys are unreal...how the hell're we gonna stand up to them?"

There has to be...

"There's gotta be a way," I suddenly spoke, turning my thoughts into words. "We have to get stronger somehow, and we have to do it fast. That's the only way we could hope to win."

Ashley approached me, putting her hand on my shoulder, and forcing a smile to pass my lips. "Maybe we should ask Sora what he thinks," she said. "Who knows? Maybe there's a way he can help us stop Terra IX."

"Good idea," admitted Hunter. "Well, our mission's done, so whaddya say we head on back to the KMS?"

"Right," I said. "Everyone, let's go home."

My team nodded, and we walked our way back to the massive wooden gate in the First District, taking the shortcut from the third one. On the way home, I couldn't hope but wonder about Terra IX. They were so powerful, and each one was obviously nothing short of an expert in their corresponding element. I was just a study of the element of wind, and my friends were only on the studying level of their elements, too. There had to be a way to surpass them; they were the enemy, and they had terrifying intentions. This Syllabus of Fate didn't sound like something I-or anyone else-would want to stick around and see in action.

And if it killed me, both body and mind, I would stop at nothing to keep it from happening. 


	9. Spirit Drive!

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 9: Spirit Drive!

We had walked to Sora's office to report on our mission, only it was more of a disappointment to me. Although we did, in fact, complete our actual objective, I still couldn't let go the fact that we were almost killed by a group of strangers. Enemies, in fact, who wanted to destroy Kingdom Hearts. Such colossal power, and even more determination to support it...I didn't think it was possible for something like this to happen. And worst of all, I didn't know any kind of way to stop them.

"So, your mission was a success?" Sora said, smiling. "Excellent! Nice work, everyone!"

His eyes turned their gaze to the expression on my face. He could see that I was, for lack of a better explanation, troubled.

"What's on your mind, Gabriel?" he said, getting my attention.

It took me a few seconds before I even acknowledged him, actually; I was so consumed in my own thoughts of how to get stronger. It pained me with every passing moment, and the pain only grew more fierce as time progressed. I finally managed to look up at him with a now dedicated look across my face.

"I need to know...how we can become stronger."

"Huh?" blinked Sora.

"During our mission, we met this group of enemies, and they were so strong, I don't think it's possible to put into words. I want to know how to get strong enough so we can defeat them."

Sora scratched his chin in thought. "You say they were enemies? Did they attack you?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Did they say what they were after?"

I glanced at my friends before opening my mouth again to speak.

"The destruction of Kingdom Hearts."

As my sentence was completed, Sora lost the balance in his chair, and a seriosu expression flooded his eyes. He hunched forward slightly in his chair, and Riku stepped a little closer to engage in the conversation.

"Now, guys," he started, "There's no way that could've happened. Destroying Kingdom Hearts isn't even possible."

He turned his head to see Sora, who was shaking his head in disagreement. "No...It most certainly is."

Both Riku and Kairi stepped back in shock. Even I was a little taken aback by the fact that Sora said it could be done. Sora suddenly reached into one of his cabinets on his desk and found a small, silver key, and he entered the key into another part of his desk and opened the drawer. As he picked inside, he slipped out what must have been about ten pieces of paper, all with ridiculous amounts of writing on them. He held them in his hand and stretched his arm out for Riku to take the papers, which he did in understanding of the gesture.

"If you read through those," said Sora, "You'll understand that it CAN be done."

Riku glanced back up at Sora, and then back down at the paper. He chose to read aloud so that we could all hear the contents of the notes.

"Kingdom Hearts...the heart of all worlds. Existing on the farthest corners of the universe, through the checkpoint for all destroyed worlds, it grasps hold of the darkness. I have come to understand it. I have come to embrace the darkness it shows me. But something has puzzled me. For every darkness, there must be light. Yet I see not even a mere speck of it anywhere around those doors-the doors to the inside of Kingdom Hearts. However, I am certain it is there. It must be. I can sense it; feel it within my bones. And this light-this hidden, mysterious light-is far more potent and extraordinary than the darkness. I have no intentions of searching for the light, however, seeing as I have no information to guide me there. The darkness that swallows my heart-it is all the proof I need that Kingdom Hearts, itself, is capable of becoming nothing but darkness. Therefore, I will continue to believe in this power. The darkness grants me this knowledge, this overwhelming sense of immortality...but I know that there is always a light that dares to challenge it. I believe I will be far departed from this mortal coy long before the day I see the light from Kingdom Hearts, so I am not afraid. Let the darkness come. Let it guide us all to the afterlife and beyond. Let it give us the eternal rest we so desire, blanketed in nothing but the sweet embrace of the void."

We all stared down at the papers, doing our best to comprehend what was just said. It was difficult, to say the least.

"Those are words from Ansem's research," said Sora, breaking the silence. "But not the reports we discovered all those years ago. King Mickey had located these slips of paper crammed in a book in the Library of Twilight Town when investigating it for Heartless. Sure enough, this is part of Ansem's 'forgotten report.'"

"But if this is true," I started, "Then that means the light that Ansem was referring to...It must be the Syllabus of Fate that those Terra IX guys were talking about!"

He nodded in agreement. "Right. If the Syllabus of Fate is revealed, then all they need is the HOC to-"

"What's an HOC?" Hunter asked, interrupting Sora's previous comment.

"It stands for Heart of Chaos," continued Sora. "It's called that because it's literally the heart of Chaos, the God of Discord."

Ashley shuddered at the mere mentioning of something so grotesque. "Okay, but what're they gonna do with a heart? That's really gross!"

Kairi nodded. "It's said that the HOC contains the power to consume the light and turn it into darkness," she said. "As such, it would be able to convert the light from the Syllabus of Fate into dark power, giving Terra IX all they needed to do whatever they wanted."

"And I'm not gonna let that happen," I said, in correspondence with their discussion. "I won't let anything happen to Kingdom Hearts-or any of the worlds."

Sora clapped his hands together, again catching our attention. "Well said, Gabriel," he smiled. "That's why I think I can help you guys out."

"Really?" I jumped forward. "You can help us get stronger? Fast enough to stop Terra IX?"

He waved his hands in the air as if to block me from hitting him. "Take it easy, buddy!" he grinned, sheepishly. "Yes, we'll help you. We're going to see Yen Sid."

"Yen Sid?" I echoed, a slight tone of excitement in my voice. "You mean the great teacher? The one that instructed the King himself?"

He nodded, grinning at me. "The very same! Now, let's all get going! We'll use the transporter in the auditorium to go to Twilight Town."

"Then let's go!" I exclaimed, bolting out the door. I was legitimately excited to meet this guy-this Yen Sid. He was highly respected by even the three founders of the KMS, and everyone knew he was King Mickey's instructor. As I ran out the door, I could hear footsteps approaching behind me.

It was my friends. Trying to catch up to me.

Eventually, Ashley caught up to me and took my hand, smiling at me while we were still running. "You're not going anywhere without us!" she grinned.

"That's right!" exclaimed Damion and Hunter from behind, doing their best to keep the pace.

I smiled slightly, giving a silent thanks to whatever Gods may exist that I had a good circle of friends. It was only a few moments afterwards that we arrived in the auditorium, only to see that Sora, Riku, and Kairi were already there.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Ashley, almost out of breath from running so much. "How did you guys get here before us?"

Kairi smiled, pointing over to the obvious set of stairs only ten steps away from where we were currently standing. "There's a perfectly good shortcut right there, hun," she giggled.

"No fair!" exhaled Hunter. "You could've said something to us! We would've beat Gabriel here, too!"

I "gently" punched Hunter on the top of the head, almost as if it was a noogie. "In your dreams," I spat. "I would've gotten here way before you did."

"Not if we used the shortcut!" he sneered, rubbing his head to reduce the pain.

"Just be quiet, Hunter," said Ashley, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Let's be on our way, everyone," said Sora, stepping into the transporter and zipping off to Twilight Town. We all followed in suit, being warped straight to the world in question. It was still as quiet as ever, of course, when we arrived.

We followed Sora, Riku, and Kairi through the area, eventually coming to what seemed like a plaza. It wasn't exactly filled with people (it was empty, in fact), but inside, there was supposedly a train station. Sora gestured for us to enter the station, and we followed his order. But before I stepped inside, I glanced upwards at the clock tower. I inhaled a breath of fresh air, and I caught myself smiling slightly at the warm feeling I had in my heart.

"Lovely, isn't it?"

I suddenly snapped back into reality, turning to face the direction of the voice. As I did, I was met with the glance of a man that looked no older than I did. His hair was a dark shade of brown, almost black, and his eyes were of a deep tint of hazel. He was wearing what looked to be some kind of poncho. It was a jet black color, and it covered all of his body except for the feet. A very convenient place to stop, to be sure.

"Who're you?" I demanded.

The man shook his head with a smile. "Where are you from?"

"What?"

"I asked, where are you from?"

I shook my head. "Answer my question, first. What's your name?"

He chuckled slightly. "My name is of no importance. I was simply trying to start a friendly conversation."

"Oh..." I loosened myself, but only slightly. I still wasn't sure what this man was capable of doing, and if he was-

"Rest assured," he suddenly said. "I am not your enemy. I won't hurt you."

"Seriously?" I sneered. "How're you gonna go around doing things like this? Sneaking up on people like you did me, and then telling them you're not their enemy?"

He laughed. "You simply misunderstand me. But that's fine. I suppose you're in a hurry, what with your friends breezing right on through the train station."

"They did?" I exclaimed, turning back around to face the station. I sprinted as fast I could over there, going through the doors and meeting up with my friends.

"Where'd you go?" asked Hunter. "Sora and the others are waiting for you to get on the train!"

"Sorry," I implored. "I got held up by some weird guy." We started walking to the train, and sure enough, there it was; a decent-sized purple train with stellar decorations and paint, ready to roll out and take us to see Yen Sid. As we boarded the train and did our best to enjoy the ride, we watched mystified as the surrounding area started to vanish, being replaced with a gorgeous aurora and consellations in the skies of trains and train tracks, not to mention the actual stars were shaped that way, as well. I looked off to the horizon, my eyes gazing in excitement as they glared at a massive tower with a pointed-hat tip. The train came to a stop and allowed us to disembark, which we did at the proper moment. We started our walk over to the tower, and shortly aftewards, to the very top, where we would undoubtedly meet Yen Sid.

As we had just finished walking for what seemed like a small eternity, we came to a large door. Sora lightly pushed the door open, revealing the entrance to another room. We stepped through the door, only to be greeted by an elderly man in a blue robe with a hat the same shape as the roof of the tower. He was sitting in what looked like a wooden chair, staring straight at us. Sora, Riku, and Kairi took a bow, and we all followed their example.

"Master Yen Sid," said Sora. "It's an honor to see you again."

He slightly bowed his head, then gestured for us all to rise. "Come, now," he said. "You mustn't be so formal. As friends of Mickey, you are always welcome here."

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid," added Kairi.

"Hmm?" He turned his head to see us, the group of students. "Who might these children be?"

"They're our students," replied Sora with a grin. "Gabriel, Ashley, Hunter, and Damion."

"Well met, indeed," said the wise man. "What brings you here, all this way, to see me?"

"We've come to seek your aid, Yen Sid," I suddenly said, standing up straight and proud.

He glanced straight at me. "Oh? What is it that requires my help?"

"A new type of evil is threatening the universe, sir. Kingdom Hearts is-"

"Ahh, you must be referring to those Terra IX hooligans."

I blinked in surprise. He really was a wise man, seeing as he knew who I was referring to without me saying their names. "Y-Yes, sir."

"Those brutes are after the destruction of Kingdom Hearts, so they can obtain immortality and rule the universe. And I assume you and your friends wish to be the ones to stop them?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"I see. In that case, I will put you through a grueling test, my boy. Do you believe you possess the skills to pass?"

"Of course I do," I replied, confidence filling my words.

"Very good," he smiled. "Now..." He rose from his chair and clapped his hands, revealing an invisible entrance to a distant realm. "Right this way. All of you, come with me." He stepped through the portal and vanished, and we all followed him as per his instructions.

We arrived in an empty room, one with nothing but white walls and a massive circular glyph on the ground. The glyph itself was unlit, and it even seemed unfinished. Yen Sid gestured for me, alone, to stand within the glyph. Complying with his request, my legs moved over to the center of the room, standing right in the middle of the designs. He motioned his arms in the form of some kind of spell, and as he finished, I was dumbfounded to see a copy of myself, staring straight at me, only a few feet away. But something was wrong with this clone. It wasn't normal. It eminated a dark gas from its tips, and its motion and movements were sluggish. It was almost as if-

"The figure before you stands as the embodiment of the darkness in your heart."

...That was my second guess.

"If you intend to pass this test, you must learn to overcome this darkness. You must learn to face the fears and horrors it bestows upon you."

"No sweat," I said, bringing out my Wayward Wind and grasping the handle firmly. I leapt forward, striking the manifestation and causing its body to disband. But to my surprise, it swiftly reformed itself faster than I could even look behind me to it happen.

"What the hell?"

"Why does it regenerate like that?" asked Sora.

"Because," stated Yen Sid, "It is the darkness of his heart. It can never truly fade. It can never fully be destroyed."

"Like hell!" I could feel myself getting angry, and I once again struck the creature, only this time, it ducked to dodge my strike and appeared right behind me, kicking me in the back and tossing me to the ground. As I hit the floor, blood exuded from my lips, spilling from inside my mouth. I spit to the side of me, leaping back to my feet right before the shadow struck me again. As I dodged, it looked straight at me and tried to attack once more, aiming for my torso so it could stab right through me. It was so fast, I barely managed to evade its attacks. But then, it suddenly charged some kind of dark power into its fist, and it released a ball of dark energy towards me, striking me on impact and sending me flying into the air. At this moment, it somehow warped right next to me and stabbed straight through my chest, finally forcing its dark blade out of me and pushing me down to the ground with its foot. I landed painfully on the ground once more, crushing it and causing an indent in the structure.

I managed to stand once again, readying another attack from my dark half. But as soon as I was ready, I felt the wind of its speedy teleportation, and it appeared right in front of me. Using its right hand, it clenched it into a fist and landed a punch directly onto my face, pushing me back slightly and catching me off guard. It took this chance to once again go on the assault. With the opportunity, it punched me across the face a few more times, finally ending with an uppercut that forced me to bleed even more. Before I was blown back too far, it grasped the edge of my shirt and threw me to the side and into a wall only ten feet or so away from me. I heard the concerned gasps of my friends as they watched in shock as I was being demolished.

Ashley attempted to step in and assist me, but Yen Sid held her back with his arm. "Why're you stopping me? He needs help!"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It is a power he must face alone. He does not understand what is happening before his very eyes; that is why he is losing this fight."

"What are you talking about?" she exclaimed.

"Gabriel is giving into the darkness. He is feeding it with rage. Rage is an emotion of anger, and anger begets and comforts the darkness. In doing so, it gives it strength and evelasting form. Not even the light can save him, unless he learns to accept this."

"Accept it? What are you saying?"

"He must accept that darkness exists within him. That he cannot win unless, while utilizing the light, he also has no choice but to use the darkness to his advantage."

I felt myself slipping even further into rage, and I was losing my focus. I just wanted the damn thing gone. It was the darkness in my heart; I didn't want it to be the power-the force-that ended up getting me killed. I refused to allow that. But at the same time, what else could I do? I had once again got back on my feet, but for what? I couldn't defeat this thing. I couldn't even technically fight it. Every time I tried to attack, it would either dodge me or reform when struck. Was it invincible? Did Yen Sid decide to give me this test for some kind of sick pleasure? To see an innocent student die in his own home?

"Gabriel!"

I heard a shout from the distance, and I turned to see that it had come from Ashley.

"What do you think you're doing in there? Have you forgotten the whole reason you wanted to get this power in the first place?"

"What...?" The hold I had on my weapon started to grow a little weaker.

"You want to fight so you can stop Terra IX! You want to keep fighting so you can keep the worlds-the whole universe-at peace! You fight...so you can protect us!"

Protect...my friends...

"But look at you! You're pathetic! You're letting your own darkness beat the shit out of you! How can you just sit there and let it do that?"

"I'm not...I'm not letting it win! I..."

"Yes, you are! You're giving into your own rage. That's why you aren't winning! You're feeding that darkness!"

My rage? The darkness is...feeding on my rage?

"Let it go, Gabriel!" she continued to shout. "There's nothing you can gain from this if you keep feeding the darkness!"

Ashley...

"Don't shut us out! Let us in! Let us give you our light! Our power!"

"Yeah!" shouted Hunter, helping Ashley get her message across. "We're all in this together! You can't just let your own darkness have its way with you! Fight back! Let go of your rage! Let our light help you win!"

"Yeah!" shouted Damion. "What these two said!"

I sighed with a smile. Of course, I wasn't expecting Damion to say anything too dramatic or emotional.

"You guys..." I felt something warm touch my chest. No, it was more like it touched my heart. I felt it burning inside of me. But the flame was...comforting. Soothing. I felt it swelling inside of me, getting bigger and burning brighter. It had filled my entire body, and I could feel my fingers and hands starting to glow, resonating with a pure light. My friends watched in awe as they witnessed this happening, and within seconds, a massive pillar of light energy exuded from my body, shooting up into the air and eventually dissipitating. My entire body had started to glow with this same light, and deep inside, I felt some kind of awesome, colossal new power giving me the incentive to fight.

"I know, now. I know what I'm fighting for."

My left ear twitched slightly, and I heard the rushing speed of the darkness coming straigh for me. Right before impact, I simply stepped out of the way of its attack, and I retaliated by grabbing its arm, pulling it back towards me, and using my Wayward Wind to stab it straight through the face. As I did, its body was suddenly filled with my light, and in seconds, the dark entity exploded, vanishing in a cloud of black dust. The light surrounding me illuminated the entire room, and I turned to face my friends as they looked on with open smiles and gleams in their eyes.

I had finally learned to overcome my darkness.

Slowly but surely, the light started to fade, and within moments, I was back to being the way I was before this all happened. The only difference? I was completely and utterly exhausted. I fell to the ground on my knees, drained of any kind of energy to rise back to my feet. My friends had rushed to my side, helping me back up and allowing me to push my weight on them. Yen Sid stepped forward to face me once again.

"Well done. You have passed my test and unlocked the power you were seeking."

"That's...great," I said, flinching slightly due to pain.

"When enough light is given, it becomes substantial, glowing and radiating outwardly, and burning and growing inside of you. When this occurs, your heart, mind, and soul all connect, thinking and acting as one, drastically increasing your abilities. This is called 'Spirit Drive.'"

"Spirit Drive..." I echoed, almost as a whisper.

"Yes. The ultimate test of your inner light, and the only power with such a massive capacity to grow."

"Grow?" asked Ashley, holding my side to keep me from falling over.

"Correct. Spirit Drive reacts to the strength of your heart, mind, and soul. As such, when these three things are improved, and they become stronger, so does your Spirit Drive. As long as you continue to grow, Gabriel, your Spirit Drive will grow along with you, making you ever the more powerful."

"Thanks..." I managed to say, despite my weak body.

"Now, take this." He raised his hands before his torso, and he crafted a ball of magic energy as if from nothing. Ashley, Hunter, and Damion hesitantly lead me forward so I could grab the orb, and as soon as I touched it, my hand started to tremble. Rather, it wasn't my hand; it was the weapon in my grasp. It sprung my arm forward and in front of me, stretching the weapon out and giving it room. Its shape started to change, morphing into a different kind of weapon. Its form had finally changed to that of a mighty weapon, the edge spiking forward and curving impressively at the tip. The keychain equipped to my Wayward Wind disappeared, meaning it could take this shape at will when in Spirit Drive. As it finished transforming, a mighty green aura exuded from the weapon, signaling the power of the wind coursing through it. As it touched my hand, I felt comfortable with its new shape; it had somehow shifted to a weapon fitting my natural element.

"I have given you the power of Sylph," stated Yen Sid. "The spirit of wind has chosen to empower your weapon, and now, you have attained the true form of Spirit Drive!"

I stared at my new weapon, a smile managing to spread across my face.

"With spirit weapon in hand, and with the power of Spirit Drive in your possession, you will stand strong, your allies sharing the light with you along the way, making you stronger! Strong enough to save the universe from Terra IX!"

I was more than pleased to hear his words. It was true; I felt confident enough to stop those monsters from achieving their goal.

"However..."

What? There was more?

"In your current state, you cannot defeat them. They plan to attack Kingdom Hearts in the short span of three months, so in this time, you must hone your skills with Spirit Drive. Make yourself stronger and train for the coming battle. Do you understand?"

I nodded slowly, trying my best to keep my consciousness. Unfortunately...

"Gabriel!"

That was the last word I heard before I passed out, completely barren of any remaining energy.

-ASHLEY'S POV-

I couldn't believe this. Gabriel passed his test, and he did so by letting go of the darkness in his heart, and opening himself to the light of his friends. I felt very uneasy as I looked at him, for he had no response as I called his name. Yen Sid approached me and placed a hand on my shoulder, shaking his head slightly.

"He will be fine, dear. All he needs is rest. Would you be so kind as to take him back to the Dressing Room so he can rest? There is a bed he may lay upon in that room."

I nodded to agree with him. "Yes, sir."

"But let me say something before you go," Sora added.

"What is it, Commander?"

"I'd like you all to take this same test, so you can all use Spirit Drive."

Hunter and Damion flinched back in shock. To be honest, I didn't expect Sora, the founder of the KMS and our Commander, to request such a dangerous feat from us. It almost killed Gabriel, and he's the strongest among the four of us. What chance did we have of passing?

"Yes," agreed Yen Sid. "I do believe it would be most beneficial. After all, you are ALL charged with the task of defeating Terra IX. If you truly wish to aid Gabriel in the coming battle, then you must do so at his side, Keyblade in hand, and courage in your heart."

It took me a few moments to process all of this. I had looked down at Gabriel's face, seeing the restless expression across it and smiling slightly at the sight of him sleeping. He looked rather cute, under all of his rough exterior. It was a small glimpse of who he really was under the act he tried to pull when he was around people he didn't know. And I really liked seeing him that way; it gives me inspiration to try and get him to open up to us-his friends.

"I'll do it," I said, looking back up at Yen Sid. "If Gabriel has the strength to try it, then I do, too."

He bowed his head with a smile. "Most impressive words," he said. "Very well. As soon as you have taken him to the Dressing Room, report back here to undergo the test."

"Yes, sir," I said, holding onto Gabriel as best as I could and leading him to the Dressing Room. Kairi and Riku were kind enough to assist me, since it was rather awkward and uncomfortable trying to do it on my own.

"We might as well do it, too," Hunter insisted. "I wanna find a way to get strong enough to stand up to them, too."

"Same here," Damion added. "I wanna fight with you guys, too."

"Then it is settled," declared Yen Sid. "As soon as Ashley returns, you will all take the test at once."

"Yes, sir!"

We had finally arrived in the Dressing Room, and Riku and Kairi had assisted me in setting him up on the one bed in there. I lifted the sheets to cover his body, so he didn't get cold during his slumber. Riku and Kairi stepped outside without my knowing, and so, I took this time to have a brief moment to catch my breath. As I was doing so, I looked down at his face one last time. I didn't know what I was thinking; I was putting my hand on his cheek, stroking it slightly with my finger. Just looking at him in such a peaceful state made my lips form into a bright smile, and before I could comprehend my next action, I found myself leaning down to his head and gently kissing his forehead. I leaned down slightly to whisper into his ear, hoping that somehow, he could hear me talking to him.

"We're gonna fight together, Gabriel. You, me, Hunter and Damion. We'll all fight Terra IX. And we'll win."

I took another few seconds to look at him, and afterwards, I rose back to my feet and dashed out of the room, going back to the others. I didn't know what all to expect, even though we had all witnessed Gabriel completing his test. But I do know this: every darkness is different, because every heart is different. No two people would have the same kind of test to take; we would all have to fight a different darkness.

And I was scared-terrified, even-to see my darkness unleashed. 


	10. The Fear

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 10: The Fear

-ASHLEY'S POV-

It was finally time.

This test-this trial that I was practically being forced to undergo-was finally coming to fruition. I stood in the center of the room, along with Hunter and Damion, who were going to join me in this outrageous task, but each taking on their own darkness. I was still certainly not looking forward to doing this; my legs were visibly shaking, and my heart was beating in a similar pace to a mouse. I knew what my darkness was, unlike Gabriel. In that sense, I suppose I was superior. But even though I knew what I was going to face, what would become of me? What could I possibly gain from this other than a newfound power? Would it be able to suppress my darkness? Or would it still linger ahead of me, tracing my steps and following me like a damned watchdog? I knew what form it would take. I knew what terrors it would possess. After all, it would be my worst fear, the darkness that consumes me, just like anybody else.

It was my fear of being alone.

"Begin!" shouted Yen Sid.

I readied my weapon for the upcoming battle, and within mere moments, a shadowy figure resembling my own materialized before me, dawning the lifeless golden eyes of a Heartless, staring straight into my heart and instilling within me a fear unlike any I could dare to comprehend. It charged straight for me, not even slightly hesitant as to consume me in darkness. I was lucky enough to maneuver out of the way of its swings, dodging ever so gallantly by performing a series of front and backflips to escape its assault. It was for only a split moment that I noticed an opening, and I decided to take it, swinging my Keyblade forth and slicing straight through the dark torso of my shadowy nemesis. To my dismay, it simply regenerated merely seconds afterwards, signaling that I had dealt absolutely no damage to it. My mind was racing with thoughts, contemplating ideas that could possibly get me through this trial unscathed.

Sadly, I couldn't conceive a single one.

I had taken note that Hunter and Damion were having no trouble with their tests, and it seemed that it was only a matter of time before they were done. Still, that couldn't have meant too much; their fears were most certainly not as complex as mine or Gabriel's. After all, pretty much all that Gabriel did was think about things. He always kept to himself, and he barely managed to trust even his friends. It's impossible to stick yourself into his mind, but I have tried to do so for years. Even when we were children, he was a mystery. My thoughts were nowhere near as complex, to be certain, but they were still conceived from things I would rather not say to anyone, not even my friends. With all that has happened to me and the ones I care for, it's no wonder I have such a strong fear, and it's also not surprising to see it materialzed before me, fighting me in a battle of both strength and wits. To be honest, I was uncertain whether or not I could win this battle.

"Dammit!" I exclaimed. "How am I supposed to-"

The shadow of my fear had landed a direct cut to my forearm, slicing through my flesh and inducing a large wound upon my body. It even wripped part of my clothes, too. It leapt back and away from me, standing in wait for me to perform my next move. My respiration was impaired; I had to think of something quickly, before I ended up just like Gabriel. Using what little knowledge of combat I truly had, I composed what someone-somewhere-would claim as a strategy. It was time to face this darkness head-on, with no hesitation. I charged straight for the shadow, and sure enough, it sprung into the air to dodge my strike.

"Just what I wanted."

I swiftly turned to face the creature's direction, and I rose my arm so that my weapon was pointing directly at it. I focused my energy into a beam of light that would shoot from my Keyblade, and within seconds, I released a powerful laser from the tip, which shot straight through my dark emissary. However, even after suffering what would normally be fatal to a creature of evil, the shadow once again reformed itself, materializing before me and preparing for me next "brilliant" idea. I watched in shock and horror as the creature started to dance about like a crazed madman. What was I to do? I didn't have enough power left to compose another beam of light, and even if I did, it wouldn't have any serious effect on this foul monster. I fell to my knees, falling victim to my own despair.

Was it supposed to be this way?

Was I supposed to fall? Is this how I was supposed to die? Consumed by my own fears and darkness? How was I supposed to combat something I, myself, did not even fully comprehend? What, precisely, was the substance that makes my fear something so drastic and terrifying? What, in essence, composed fear? And on that note, is it something that can ever truly be conquered? Can one learn to utilize it to become stronger? Or is it supposed to haunt you for the rest of your days, never releasing its grip on your heart? Maybe that's what this test was; to prove that fear is too powerful to destroy. It can be conquered, but only by those worthy and deserving. What makes someone deserving of that capability? Is it something you are born with? Something that happens in your life that gives you the strength to overcome any fear? I didn't understand. My thoughts were circling through my head at a constant, ongoing speed, with no end in sight.

Perhaps...I was weak. I wasn't strong enough to stand against Terra IX during our first encounter, and now, we know that they intend to destroy Kingdom Hearts and utilize some sort of unspeakable power in order to become immortal, and destroy anything they please, including the worlds that fill this universe. So many lives-innocent and alike-were going to be lost, completely washed away as if they were nothing more than pathetic insects. Before the face of ultimate power, what could someone do to challenge it? Is that not what makes it "ultimate?" This must be some sort of effect of this test; under normal circumtances, I would not be considering all of this. My thoughts would normally be cheerful ones, centered around the glorious memories of my friends and I, especially Gabriel. How much I cared about them, and how much I loved him. Sometimes, I would feel the fear of rejection, and that is what has kept me from confessing my feelings for him for so long. I was too scared-petrified-that I would be rejected, and that what we already had would be destroyed. Lost to my fears.

"What're you doin'?"

Damion had knelt down to my level, helping me to my feet and grabbing my Keyblade, putting it back in my hands, and Hunter had directed my arms so that I was once again pointing at the shadow of my fears. They both placed their hands on mine, and I felt the warmth of their energy suddenly zipping into my own, combining our powers together and forming yet another beam of light to release from my weapon.

"Don't go quittin' on us, now!" exclaimed Damion.

"We're gonna help you!" declared Hunter. "Whether Yen Sid likes it or not!"

The shadow charged directly for us, and we only had a brief second to unleash the power we had stored in the blade. I took aim quickly, and with what power I had left, I fired the beam of light directly at the monster, and it stabbed straight through it, only this time, causing visible damage. In a burst of light, the shadow vanished, dissipating before us. I witnessed my weapon changing its shape, forming into a new species of Keyblade, similar to the transformation Gabriel discovered. This weapon was different, however; it was a beautiful ocean blue color, and the blade shimmered with a gorgeous sky-blue light. The blade was spiked at the tip, twisting in different ways and directions to form a particularly interesting design. There was no keychain attached, meaning that this could only be one type of weapon.

A Spirit Blade.

"Well done," said Yen Sid, approaching us with a smile on his face. "You have all surpassed your darkness, and you have completed the test to my satisfaction. I am pleased with the way things turned out for you all."

"What?" I said, turning my head to face Hunter, then to Damion. "So does that mean...?"

"Yup!" Hunter grinned. "We already finished our tests. But we saw you in distress, so we had to help you!" His Keyblade formed into a very oddly shaped weapon, symbolizing his element, Fire, within the weapon. It glowed with a fiery red hue, and the blade formed into a large diamond-shaped spike at the tip. The handle was confusing, to be blunt; it was shaped similarly to the Oathkeeper, a kind of Keyblade I had only seen in pictures. It, too, lacked a keychain, meaning that it was, indeed, Hunter's very own Spirit Blade. I turned back to face Damion, who had also formed his Spirit Blade. It was a very simplistic, understandable form, its shape strikingly reminiscent of a katana. The blade was not consumed in a constant glowing light, but rather, it was sparking with bolts of lightning all over, even close to the hilt.

"I always thought Thunder looked kinda cool," Damion laughed.

I giggled. "It certainly fits you, that's for sure."

"Now that we all have our own Spirit Blades," Hunter started, "does this mean we get to go home?"

"Not yet," proclaimed Yen Sid, shaking his head. "You all need rest before you go anywhere else. I invite you all to stay here for the night, then you may return to the KMS tomorrow morning."

Sora approached us, a smile lit across his face. "That sounds all right with me. Gabriel just woke up, anyway, so we're going to take him back to school."

"Really?" I exclaimed. "That's great!"

"You all can stay here for the night, all right? I'll come back to get you in the morning for school."

We all nodded in a simultaneous fashion. Sora nodded in understanding, and he walked off once more and back to the Dressing Room to tend to Gabriel. I was deeply relieved that he was awake; it meant that nothing fatal had happened to him, after all. Yen Sid placed his hands out in front of us, and within seconds, he formed three magic orbs, similar to the one Gabriel took to unlock the full potential of his Spirit Drive. We approached him with caution, taking the orbs and witnessing the light shrouding our bodies, engulfing us with its warm, energetic touch. The sensation was without words; it was as if my very soul was expanding and growing, becoming stronger in the process. To be fair, Yen Sid DID state that Spirit Drive was a test of your body, heart, mind, and soul. I suppose it was only natural for us to feel this way, since our power was given a drastic and sudden boost.

"Get some rest, all of you. You have done very well."

We all walked out of the room and into Yen Sid's room, heading directly for the Dressing Room at our earliest convenience. We were greeted by a nervous Kairi. She was relieved to see us, and she dashed over to the three of us and engulfed us in a big group hug.

"I'm so glad you all passed!" she cheered.

I dusted off my clothes and smiled at her, walking over to a nearby bed and collapsing onto it, spreading my limbs out as wide as possible without falling off. I exhaled slightly, turning over to my side to try and fall asleep. I can only assume my friends followed my example; I heard the sound of two thumps on beds, which I could only assume were the bodies of my two friends. We were all exhausted to a point where words could not describe. That was a certain fact. As I closed my eyes and attempted to slip into a world of dreams, my thoughts turned to only a few moments earlier. I had to be helped in order to complete my part of the test, but it wasn't just anybody who helped me. It was my friends. I had friends, who were both willing to help me, even if it put them in unnecessary danger. Not everybody can say that about themselves. I was happy to say that I was one of the few with friends like that.

I was glad that I wasn't alone.

-Gabriel's POV-

We were on the magic train back to the station in Twilight Town, and I was sitting about four seats away from Sora. He looked over to me with a slightly distressed look.

"What's the matter, kiddo? You getting train sickness?"

I shook my head, chuckling slightly. "No, nothing like that. I just have this really bad feeling."

He blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"As if...something really ominous is about to happen."

"Ominous?" He grinned and shook his head, scooting down towards me and patting my head playfully. "I wouldn't worry too much, Gabriel. You just got out of the most difficult training experience of your life; it's only natural to feel a little...different than usual."

"I don't ever feel this kind of weird after a hard day of training, sir."

"Well, you normally don't test the power of your soul when you train, Gabriel. But you did not too long ago. It's probably going to have some kind of side effects."

"I see."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Either way, I'm really proud of you guys for going through this trial. I hate to say it, but..."

"But...?"

The atmosphere suddenly grew intense. I could feel the density in the air, like a choking sorrow. I was a little paranoid at the moment, but this sudden change in mood was most certainly not supportive of my sudden anxiety.

"You guys are the best chance we have...at stopping Terra IX."

Terra IX...To hear him say something like that made me believe he knew something about the situation, something he wasn't telling us. Either way, I didn't necessarily wish to believe him; I wanted to believe that there were more people out there-or even nearby-that could help us in our cause to save the universe. Was it really possible that this organization of evil minds could be so powerful, they could destroy even the fabled Keyblade Masters of old? Were Sora, Riku, and Kairi really not strong enough to even stand a chance against these guys? I did not want to believe that. Every part of my body shivered with uncertainty when I heard him speak those words. Honestly, I wanted to believe he was joking.

"You're just saying that to stroke my ego, aren't you?" I asked, a slight sense of insecurity in my voice.

To my dismay, he shook his head. "No, I really meant what I said. You guys are the new generation of Keyblade wielders, and it's only a matter of time before you become masters, too. Knowing this, us old Keyblade Masters will fall behind, and our power won't even compare to yours. All it takes is time, patience, and the will to grow stronger."

The will to grow stronger...

"Whatever it takes," I said, reassuring myself that I had, in fact, grown much stronger in such a short period of time. "I'll stop Terra IX, even if it means my own death."

Sora smiled at me, putting his hand on my shoulder in a friendly gesture. "I believe you. We're all counting on you."

"Yes, sir."

It was only an hour or two before we finally returned to the KMS. The scent, the activity, the sense of belonging; even though I was only gone for a short time, it was all filling my heart once again, as if I had just arrived on my first day, years back, when I was a freshman. I walked through the halls and through the arena, catching a glimpse of Patrick and a few of his goonies, surrounding a group of girls. They were laughing, giggling, and probably flirting with each other. I didn't see fit to disturb them, so I kept walking forward, hoping that-

"Hey! Loser!"

Dammit...

"Where do 'ya think you're goin'? I got a bone to pick with 'ya!"

I turned to face him, a serious glare in my eyes. Patrick's friends, along with the three ladies, backed away from the situation hastefully, and the big lug approached me with a scornful grin.

"Where 'ya been, punk? I haven't seen you and your friends around here at all."

I sighed slightly. "I was on a mission, which YOU were supposed to take yourself."

"Yeah?" he grinned. "Well, good for you! Still acting like you're all tough, huh?"

I smirked at his childish banter. "Who's acting?"

"All right, you little bastard!" he exclaimed, pulling out his Keyblade. "Let's go! You and me, right now! Or are you too scared?"

I extended my arm forward, and with a simple thought, I formed my Spirit Blade, Sylph, causing a sudden and violent gust of wind to blow through the ground, sending mixed signals to Patrick's friends. Within seconds, my blade had completely materialzed, shaping itself into the blade of wind I had worked so hard to attain. I swung it to the side of me, ready for battle.

"You still wanna stick around and fight me?"

His eyes were flinching in shock and fear. "W-What the hell is that?" he demanded. "H-How did you get one of those?"

I dashed forward, obviously too quick for Patrick to retaliate. I leapt behind him, forcing the tip of my blade right against his spinal cord. He froze in terror, thinking that I was really going to stab straight through him. His friends were, embarrassingly enough, soiling themselves in fear.

"This is Spirit Drive."

His friends dahsed out of the arena as quickly as their legs would take them, and all that was left was me and my old rival. He quickly rose his arms into the air, and he flailed forwards.

"Okay! Okay! You win! No way I can beat you now!"

He ran off after his friends, leaving me to myself. I reverted my Spirit Blade to its original Wayward Wind form, and I continued for my room. I entered the nearest elevator, pressing the button for the Junior floor. The steel doors opened, taking me to my desired floor. I exited the elevator and started for my room, but I was caught off guard as I saw a girl standing before the other elevator at the end of the hallway. I approached her slowly, so as not to frighten her.

"Excuse me, but you look lost. You new here?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm looking for Room 417."

"Oh," I chuckled. "That's the next floor up. You're a senior?"

She nodded slowly. "That's right." She pressed the button to activate the elevator, and she looked back at me for a short moment. "Sorry, but I really have to find my room. It was nice meeting you!"

"S-Sure," I said, a little dumbfounded. She entered the elevator and ascended to the next floor, leaving me to myself. I started walking back to my room, but I paused briefly to hear my stomach roaring at me. I chuckled to myself, and I pressed the button for the elevator to take me to the Cafeteria on the first floor. I was looking forward to indulging myself with some good, hot food.

-SORA'S POV-

Only a few more steps before I reached the room, 417. I had remembered that I was supposed to give her the enrollment test when she got here, but I got so caught up with taking Gabriel and his friends to see Yen Sid that I completely forgot. Riku and Kairi are still at Yen Sid's place, so I know I can count on them to watch out for the others. All they need now is a good rest, and they'll be able to grow stronger, thanks to the new power they all earned. As their commander, I couldn't be happier for them. But as a fellow Keyblade wielded, I know they can be stronger. Speaking of which, I was very curious to see how good this new student would be. I had seen her name on the admission list before we left for Twilight Town, but I certainly don't know who she is. I approached room 417, and I knocked on the door, and sure enough, the girl in question opened the door and smiled at me.

"Commander Sora!"

I gestured a wave to her. "Hello there! I'm glad to see you're making yourself at home. Can I get your name once more, please?"

Her smile widened. "Sure. It's Lizzie."

"Lizzie...All right, I'll remember that. So, Lizzie, are you ready for your enrollment test?"

She tightened her hands into fists. "Of course! I'm ready whenever you are."

I laughed at her sense of determination. "That's good to hear. I saw the results of your first two tests, and I must admit, they were very impressive; you scored a very nice 170 as a total."

She sighed slightly, as if she was disappointed. "Yeah, well...I'm great with book smarts, but I'm not exactly the best fighter."

"Nonsense!" I replied. "Ever since the KMS was established, I have never seen a perfect score. Not once."

She smirked at me. "Thanks, sir."

"Don't mention it. Anyway, you're prepared, right? Let's go to the arena downstairs."

"Understood!"

-RIKU'S POV-

I had entered Yen Sid's quarters somewhat abruptly, something I didn't necessarily intend to do. The others were already asleep, but I couldn't manage to join them; there was something I had to ask Yen Sid. As I entered the room, I saw him standing before a window, and I bowed my head in respect.

"Something troubles you, Riku."

"Not exactly troubles me. I just have to know something."

He turned to face me. "Then please, sit down. We will speak."

I took the nearest chair and sat across from him, and he sat in his cosmic-painted chair, waiting for me to speak further.

"This whole Spirit Drive thing...Is there anyone else that has undergone this sort of trial?"

He nodded slowly. "Indeed. Besides the four students you have brought me, there are two others who have mastered the art of Spirit Drive."

"Do I know them? Rather, do Sora, Kairi, and I know them?"

He hesitated to reply, but he nodded his head slowly once more. "Yes. They are both coming to your school. I believe that one of them is already there."

"Really?" I blinked. "So, then...who is it?"

"Her name is Lizzie. She is one of my students, as well. She came to me seeking a newfound level of power upon barely passing her previous test with a 70. She wanted to grow strong enough for when she finally enrolled into the KMS, so she came here. I showed her how to engage Spirit Drive, just as I have showed your other students."

"I see...And what about the other one?"

To my surprise, Yen Sid rose from his chair with what seemed to be anxiety. No, worse than that...it almost looked like fear.

"He is a ruthless man...one with more power than even I could comprehend."

I sprung forth, out of my chair. "And you're saying he's coming to OUR school?" At that moment, it suddenly hit me, harder than I expected it to. "No...You don't mean..."

"I do," he nodded. "It is the one you and your friends fear so deeply. It is that man...Stroup."

I fell back into my chair in despair, wishing that his words were nothing more than some sick joke. Stroup was the last master of Spirit Drive? I couldn't believe it. We had already discussed him at the KMS, but it was so hard to believe that he could master something even we had only heard of not even two days ago. What's worse, I could only imagine what kind of power it gave him.

"If this Stroup guy was strong before he mastered Spirit Drive...how much stronger do you think he is with it?"

This time, he shook his head. "I do not know. The only thing certain is that he cannot be allowed to achieve his goal."

"His goal? What would that be?"

"He wishes to harness the full power of a Keyblade Master."

"What? With all the power he has already, he seeks to become even stronger? What's this guy really up to?"

"That remains unclear, even to me. I have only met him on one occasion. When I did, I sensed a far stronger magical aura than even my own. If we were to lock ourselves in mortal combat, I would have surely been defeated. His power is undeniably vast and superior to our own, even combined."

"Dammit...Sora was right. How are we gonna stop this guy?"

He returned to his seat. "I do not know. All that we can do is put our faith in the students you train, and see where their destinies lead them."

I smirked. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

But seriously...This Stroup guy was really that strong? I mean, yeah, I knew a lot about him, even though I've never met him. All of the faculty at the KMS knew about him, and we were all preparing for the day he would arrive. Yen Sid himself just finished telling me that he would lose in a fight with this kid...what's to say we have any kind of chance against him? I didn't know what to think at this point. But like Yen Sid said, all we could do was wait. Wait and see what kind of power our students would gain with their new training. I just hope it's good enough, because if not, our worst nightmares just might come to be... 


	11. A Double Enrollment

Kingdom Hearts: Sigma Chapter 11: A Double Enrollment

-GABRIEL'S POV-

The sky seemed to be frozen in time; it seemed as if not a single moment had passed since my return to the KMS. Things certainly had not changed since then, and everyone was still their usual selves. I was on the first floor, honing my skills and testing the limits of my Spirit Drive. I was striking at moving targets, ones that were created to resemble Heartless. With multiple swings and curves with my blade, they would fall, one by one, to my power. Of course, this was nothing like the real thing, since they didn't attack me; they would only attempt to dodge me as I attacked them. It was hardly even what I would call practice; they were just moving targets that did nothing except just that.

"Yo! Gabriel!"

The voice I heard came from behind me, revealing to be Shane. He had his usual cheerful grin across his face, and his legs dashed himself over to me. He stopped a few feet before me.

"Hey, Shane. What's up?"

"Oh, not much! Say, I gotta ask you something."

I crossed my arms in a sort of defense. "Okay, what is it?"

His grin switched from cheerful to sinister. "Word on the street is you made Patrick piss himself in fear. His friends, too. And you used some kind of power...Spirit Drive, I think he said it was called?"

Oh, crap...

"S-So?" I retaliated. "What's your point?"

"What's my point?" He chuckled as if he was surprised to hear me say those words. "What else? I wanna know how you did it! How did you get that power?"

"Uhh...It's...sort of hard to explain."

"Try me!" He latched out a pen and a small notepad from his pocket. "I'm a good listener!"

"...You're gonna write down everything I say, aren't you?"

He blinked in confusion. "What, am I not supposed to? I wanna know the secret!"

"Then look into your heart."

"Huh?"

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Ask yourself: what are your greatest fears? Your greatest doubts? What is it that feeds the darkness in your heart?"

"Umm..."

I felt a sudden hand on my shoulder, too. I turned my head back to see who it was. Turns out, it was the same girl I had met not too long ago.

"When you figure that out, you can use your power to conquer those fears, and when you do, you'll create a substantial light within your body. This light will charge the power of your body, mind, heart, and soul, all at once, and when it does, it magnifies your power to an presently untold level. This is called Spirit Drive."

"Hey, it's you! So, wait, how do you-"

She released my shoulder and stepped back a few paces, and she revealed her Keyblade. With a mere thought, she channeled her energy and focused her mind onto her blade, and with a sudden burst of light, it formed into the Spirit Blade of the spirit of water, Undine. I could only assume that this is what Ashley's Spirit Blade would look like, too, when she came back here with the others.

She grinned at me. "As you can see, I know a thing or two about Spirit Drive."

"That's amazing...I thought Yen Sid only taught US how to use that! But it turns out you know how, too."

She reverted herself to normal, causing her Spirit Blade to disappear. "Yes," she agreed. "Master Yen Sid was kind enough to show me how to use Spirit Drive. It's a wonderful power, but only if you don't use it excessively."

"What do you mean by that?"

"See, when you enter Spirit Drive, and every part of you is being tested, it consumes a vast amount of energy to perform. When you revert to normal, it's only when you've run out of power to use Spirit Drive."

"Yeah, I know that. What else?"

"Well, if you choose to revert back to normal before you run out of Spirit Drive, then go back into Spirit Drive shortly afterwards, then revert again, your body will consume more and more energy every time you do so. In other words, excessive revertion of Spirit Drive will cause you to lose all of your energy extremely quickly."

"So that's what you meant by 'excessively.'"

She giggled at my lack of information. "Well, that's okay. From what I can tell, you're just getting the hang of your power. Give it a week or two. I think you'll be just fine!"

I chuckled slightly. "Thanks."

"No problem."

She continued to walk in the opposite direction, until Shane dashed straight in front of her.

"Wait a second!"

She blinked. "Umm...Yes?"

"You're really cute!" he blurted. "You wouldn't happen to have a boyfriend, would you?"

She rapidly shook her head. "N-No, I-I'm new here. I-I don't really-"

"So would you like me to be your new boyfriend?"

"W-What?"

I was watching this scene occur, desperately trying not to punch Shane across the face. I walked closer to the two of them, and I put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away slightly.

"Look, Shane, that's not exactly how you should-"

He flailed away from me. "Leggo, man!" he snarled. "I got this one."

"Umm...I..." Lizzie could barely process a sentence; her cheeks were a bright crimson.

"So whadday say, gorgeous? You, me, and a romantic dinner?"

She continued to walk forward, leaving Shane with the cold shoulder. Smart girl.

"Sorry, but I'm not really interested in guys like you." She started to run off for the arena, and I could hear her last words before she went out of sight. "I'm sure you can find someone else! There are plenty of fish in the sea!"

Shane fell to his knees in what he called "the Sorrow of Rejection." It was more like a personal fit he threw whenever he was turned down by a girl, or when something didn't go his way. Fake tears practically littered his face, and I was utterly appauled to watch this happen. It was then that I realized that girl was heading for the arena, and since she said she was a new student, I figured she was on her way to take her entrance exam.

"I gotta see her Spirit Drive in action!" I dashed for the arena, leaving Shane to his sudden indulgence of self-pity.

Moments later, I had arrived in the arena, and to my surprise, I was greeted by Ashley, Hunter, and Damion, my friends who had surpassed their darkness and come back home with their new power. Ashley bolted towards me, hugging me tightly and refusing to let go. I returned her hug, but mine was nowhere near compared to the affection she showed. Hunter and Damion were obviously happy to see me, as well; I even went so far as to give them high-fives and fist bumps. After a brief reunion, we gave our attention to the arena, which had been closed off to students not in the entrance exam. The only one in the arena itself, and not in the stands, was that girl I saw just a few minutes ago.

"It's her! I knew it!"

"Knew what?" asked Hunter.

"That girl, in the arena-she can use Spirit Drive!"

My friends turned to me so quickly, I'm surprised none of them got whiplash. Their faces were painted with a stunned look.

"Are you serious?" asked Damion.

"How do you know that?" questioned Ashley. "Do you know her?"

"Not really," I replied. "We just met officially a few minutes ago."

We all turned our attention back to the arena, and we witnessed Sora and Riku walk right up to the girl.

"Welcome, Lizzie, to the KMS! Today, you're going to be completing the final part of your entrance exam, the Battle Exam. After this test, your final score will be totalled and disclosed to you and the students in the stands. You will begin in a few moments. Be prepared for anything!" Sora and Riku walked off the stage, and within seconds afterwards, the artificial Heartless suddenly littered the arena. The girl didn't seem too worried, although she instantly took an offensive position.

"Begin!"

The Heartless charged straight for her, relentless as always. She dodged their attacks gracefully, swurving in different directions and performing cartwheels and flips in continued succession. She seemed incredibly skilled, especially at evasion. To the more experienced fighters, like myself, it was obvious why she chose to master the element of water. For most of the exam, she didn't even suffer a scratch, until finally, a Morning Star, one of those massive Heartless, struck her from behind. She retaliated with a rapid counterattack, jumping into the air and firing a wave of what seemed to be massively-sized, razor-sharp needles from her blade. Upon impact, the Morning Star vanished into thin air, but she was so concerned with eliminating that Heartless that she completely forgot the fact that the exam was timed. Most of the Heartless began to disappear, only because time was quickly running out. Still, with all of the Heartless she killed already, it was obvious she would score very highly. Roughly a minute or so later, the rest of the Heartless vanished in accordance with the time limit. The exam was over. Sora and Riku once again stepped onto the stage. Sora put a friendly hand on her shoulder, and he smiled at her before he spoke to the audience.

"475! Very impressive! Congratulations!"

The entire student population that was watching this test shouted cries of joy and cheer, and some even threw their bags and hats into the air in celebration. They had no idea who this girl was; they just loved to see a good fight with a good ending. She bowed to Sora and Riku, and made her way out of the arena. I dashed as quickly as I could to meet her downstairs, finally catching up to her and stopping only a few feet away from her.

"Oh, it's you."

"That was really something back there," I praised with a smile. "You're really skilled, you know that?"

She giggled slightly. "Thanks. I could've done better, but...well..."

I shook my head. "Nah, that was still solid! I was really impressed with your exam."

"Thanks," she smiled, "but if you're trying to flirt with me-"

"Huh? N-No! Nothing like that! I was just...y'know, congratulating you."

"Oh..."

"Besides," I held up a hand in front of her, "we're fellow students now, right? So whaddya say? Friends?"

She glanced at my hand and smiled at me, giving me a high-five with enthusiasm. "Sure! But I don't even know your name."

"Oh, right, sorry. My name's Gabriel."

"I'm Lizzie. Nice to meet you, officially."

A laugh was exchanged between us. Maybe this year won't be so boring, after all.

-SORA'S POV-

Riku and I had just returned to my office, when suddenly, Kairi barged into the room with a distressed look on her face, panting from exhaustion.

"Kairi, are you all right? What is it?"

She had to pant a few extra times before she could finally catch her breath and speak to us. But since she said what she did, I sort of wish she hadn't.

"He's here...that guy...Stroup!"

I sprung out of my chair and hopped over my desk, approaching her with worry.

"Where?! Where is he?!"

"He's coming in from the front of the school! Everyone's already there, waiting for him!"

"Riku!" I turned to face my best friend. "Tell all of the students to return to their dorms immediately! I don't want anyone to get hurt!"

"Right!" He hopped onto the PA and began to speak.

"Attention! All students, return to your dorms immediately. There will be no more classes for the rest of the day."

"That should keep them entertained for a while," I replied. "C'mon, let's go!"

The three of us dashed out of my office and on our way outside, to the front of the school. As we opened the doors to go outside, all of our friends-the faculty-were already outside, sure enough, waiting for Stroup's arrival. As we walked over to them, we stared off into the distance, and as we did, a figure made itself vaguely clear. The figure was wearing what seemed to be a poncho, and it's talons flailed about in the wind. He was approaching the school, and in just a few minutes, he was merely twenty feet before us. His face was covered with a sinister smile.

"It's good to see you all," he said.

Everyone, including myself, prepared for any kind of aggression by locking ourselves in a defensive position. We were ready for battle, come what may. But even though we were all serious about his arrival, he laughed slightly at our sudden hostility.

"Please," he said, "let's not be so quick to the trigger. Just relax."

Yuffie stepped forth and pointed a finger at him. "How can we relax when we all know who you are? We know all the things you've done! It's a miracle you're even allowed on school grounds!"

He chuckled at Yuffie's accusations. "Well, I'm certainly grateful for that. I've wanted to come here for a while, you know. I was just...delayed, but only slightly. After all, it IS a rather long walk from the ends of the universe."

Cloud and Squall stepped forward, pulling out their respective weapons and ready for some kind of action.

"Cut the crap," Squall demanded. "Let's get one thing straight here, kid; we don't want you here, but we don't have a choice. We sure as hell don't like you."

Stroup laughed at Squall's rude posture. "I see, I see. In that case, I do hope we can all learn to get along, at some point in time."

He stepped forward and walked right past the two swordsmen, unwavering and stopping for nothing. Finally, he stood right in front of me, and he turned his head to look at me. To be honest, his glare-the look in his eyes-petrified me with fear.

"That goes for you, as well, Commander Sora."

At first, I didn't say anything to him. But then, Riku suddenly busted through the doors and jumped into the air, preparing his Keyblade to strike Stroup. I turned to face him quickly.

"Riku! Stop!"

Ignoring my order, Riku continued his attack, but only to watch as it was rendered meaningless. Stroup conjured a massive wall of rock before him, completely blocking Riku's attack. Realizing this, Riku leapt away from him, readying another attack. As the rock dissolved, Stroup's smile grew even more sinister than before.

"You're certainly a feisty one, aren't you?"

"Shut up!" shouted Riku. He charged straight for Stroup, but before he even got halfway to him, I jumped out in front of him, preventing him from going any further.

"Riku! Stop it!"

"Why?! He's our enemy, Sora! Don't tell me he's evil, then stop me from killing him!"

"I know...I know! But there's no point in trying to fight him!"

"What...?"

I turned to face Stroup, despair shrouding my heart.

"There's no point in fighting the only man alive...who has mastered every one of the elements."

A sudden chill crept down the spines of everyone there, even for the more darker and bloodstained members of our team. They knew what that meant; to master every one of the eight elements to their full extent requires years-decades, even-of dedication, not to mention otherwordly strength and wisdom. Even to this day, in all of recorded history, the only man alive to accomplish this magnificent feat was the man who stood before us at this very moment.

"Sounds like you did your homework," Stroup laughed.

"Fire, ice, thunder, water, earth, wind, light, and darkness...the eight elements that compose the very fabrics of our universe. Each of our students has chosen to train in the profession of one single element...but Stroup has mastered them all. In fact, he has taken the word 'master' to an entirely different level. He can use skills, spells, and techniques that even we have only read about in books. There's no point in fighting against someone none of us have any hopes of defeating."

A cold silence befell our group, and Stroup walked forward slightly to meet Riku.

"So? What do you say?" he asked, a seemingly friendly smile across his face. "Can we all learn to get along?"

"Never!" shouted Riku, going for a sudden swing of his weapon. But before he even touched Stroup, he was already behind him. Riku felt his presence, and so, he quickly turned around to face him, shooting off three orbs of darkness to attack him. Of course, this was rendered pointless as Stroup once again conjured a wall of rocks to protect himself. This time, however, he lifted the rocks into the air, and shattered the wall with his hands, sending multiple rocks of different sizes at Riku. Of course, he was unable to block them all, and he ended up taking a considerable amount of damage. He was pelted to the ground, blood gushing from his teeth.

"Riku!" shouted Aerith.

"I'll get 'im!" exclaimed Yuffie, running off for Riku.

"You bastard!" exclaimed Cloud, who paired up with Squall to launch a combined attack on Stroup. These guys were obviously not willing to listen to me; of course, I couldn't really blame them, not after all they've done to become stronger. Each and every one of them had a story to tell, and in their stories, they became strong enough to challenge beings of awesome might, as well. But even so, it was painful to see them give all they had for an unattainable victory; Stroup was far stronger than all of us, even with our powers combined.

Stroup had easily dispatched his enemies, leaving Cloud and Squall unconscious on the ground. Everyone else was either smart enough not to follow suit, or they were simply too horrified to so much as twitch a wrong part of their body, in fear that it would instigate their enemy into attacking them. I stepped forward once again, unable to continue watching this atrocity.

"Just stop. Please...just stop this."

"Sora!" exclaimed Kairi.

"We'll give you the entrance exam. Just please...stop hurting my friends."

He shrugged with a smirk across his face. "That's fine," he complied. "It was THEM who wanted to fight me, anyway."

He walked forward and into the building, and sure enough, all of the students were going about their free day off with glee. They had no idea who had just walked into their school. We approached the arena, and within the span of a few minutes, the student population was already there, waiting for the next Battle Exam to take place.

-GABRIEL'S POV-

I gazed on in shock as I saw the man standing in the arena for the next Battle Exam. Ashley, Hunter, Damion, and even Lizzie were all standing with me, ready to see what this guy was made of.

"That guy...I saw him at the station in Twilight Town!"

"You did?" asked Hunter. "I've never seen the guy before."

"You were all inside the station, waiting for me. I talked to that guy, and he seemed...weird."

"Weird?" asked Lizzie. "Like how?"

"I dunno," I replied. "Something about him was just...off."

The man stood in the arena, awaiting his instructions. It was then that Sora walked into the center, but this time, unaccompanied by Riku.

"The Battle Exam will begin as soon as I leave the arena. Be...prepared."

He certainly didn't seem very enthusiastic with this new student, but honestly, he looked a little scary. I could sort of understand why; Sora must have been taken aback, even if it was only slightly, by this guy's appearance. He left the arena, and sure enough, artificial Heartless began to swarm, surrounding him on all fronts. Surprisingly, all he did was pull out his Keyblade and lift it close to his face, as if he was about to swing downwards. That wouldn't protect him from many of the Heartless in front of him, much less the ones behind him.

"Begin!"

The Heartless just stood in place, waiting for the right chance to strike. It seems that these ones were a lot smarter than the ones we had to fight for our exam, which seemed fine with me, considering the aggression these improved Heartless chose to demonstrate. But even that didn't last long, and the army of monsters charged directly for him. Still, the guy didn't move; he didn't even budge. All he did was stand in place. Finally, though, when the Heartless got closer to him, he jumped into the air and released what seemed to be a very thin wave of energy, something even I could barely see. But the effect of the wave was far superior to how it looked! What happened next was so much of a shock, even I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed! Loud gasps were heard from practically every student in the arena.

With one move, every single Heartless was wiped out.

The man landed back on his feet, exerting what seemed to be a slight burst of air below his feet to secure a safe landing. He glanced over at Sora, who was walking back into the arena. The student body, as a whole, could not believe what they had just witnessed. Nothing like this had ever happened before, especially not since I was here. I could only assume what we were going to hear next.

"500. A perfect score. The first...in KMS history."

We all cheered loudly, louder than we thought we could. Huzzahs and yahoos were scattered about, praising the only man to ever achieve a perfect score in all of the recorded history of the KMS. It was something worth cheering for; nobody ever thought they would be here long enough to see the day where this actually happened. A perfect score meant you had to be the best at everything; all three exams had to be perfected, and that's something no one has ever done before.

The man walked out of the arena, and Sora walked out in the opposite direction. My friends and I bolted downstairs to meet this Keyblade wielder wonder and congratulate him. We eventually caught up with him on his way up the elevator to the senior floor.

"Hey! That was incredible back there! How did you manage to pull that off?"

He turned to face us, a smile across his face. "Oh, that?" he said, seemingly embarrassed by my praise. "That's nothing to be so excited about."

Lizzie sprung forward to talk to him. "But it IS!" she exclaimed. "You heard Sora say it himself: no one has EVER gotten a perfect score in all three of their exams! Nobody!"

He raised an eyebrow at Lizzie's interest. "Well, you certainly seem strong yourself."

"Huh?"

To our surprise, he took her hand and kissed it in a gentle manner. I laughed to myself as I watched Lizzie's cheeks turn red.

"R-Really?"

"Oh, most definitely," he replied. "And I can see the spirit of Undine has served you well, too."

"Huh...? What...do you mean by that?"

He released her hand gently, and he pointed a finger at her eyes. "Your eyes...By gazing into them, I can see the elegance of the ocean waves. The purity of the lakes and rivers. The majesty that is water. Therefore, through a simple deduction process, I can tell you chose to master the element of water."

She giggled, her cheeks turning a slightly brighter red. "You can tell all of that...just by gazing into my eyes?"

He smiled warmly at her. "I was merely gazing into your soul."

We all snickered in the background as we watched her entire face start to shade like a tomato. But honestly, I couldn't tell if he was hitting on her, or if he was just telling it like it is. It sounded like the latter.

"W-Well, thanks. S-So, what element did you choose to master?"

"I decided to dabble in all of them. Just to see if it could be done."

"Wow!" she gasped. "So, that means you're a little skilled in all departments, huh?"

He laughed slightly. "Well, to put it simply, yes. I can use the power of all eight elements to win my battles. Although I haven't fully mastered them all, of course."

"Even...darkness?" asked Ashley.

"But of course. Darkness isn't something to fear; rather, you can learn to control it. And once you do, you can actually turn it into an element and use it as such, in the same way you use water, or in the same way-" he pointed to me, and everyone looked in my direction-"this man right here uses the power of wind."

"How did you know my element?" I asked, dumbfounded by his wisdom.

"How quickly you got here to see me."

"Huh?"

"An average person couldn't run here from the second floor that quickly, since the elevator is only steps away from the arena. However, someone who has learned to master the element of wind can increase their speed and maneuverability, just like with thunder. Therefore, the fact that you got here so quickly is supported by your speed as a master of wind."

"Wow...No wonder you got a perfect score," I said, flattered by his words. "You're pretty damn smart."

"Oh, no, it's just some things I picked up along the way. Anyhow, I'm off to find my room."

"Oh, wait!" blurted Lizzie. "What number are you?"

"Hmm...My paper says, 427."

"Really?!" she exclaimed. "Awesome! You're right across the hall from my room!"

"That's wonderful," he grinned. "Perhaps you would be kind enough to show me around sometime?"

She grinned happily. "Of course! As soon as I learn my way around, too!"

They both shared a laugh from their conversation. It seemed like they really hit it off quickly.

"So, hey," she continued, "do you mind...if I go with you to find your room? I was gonna head on back after the exam, anyways."

He smiled. "I certainly wouldn't mind."

"Cool! Let's go!"

She rapidly pushed the elevator button and ran inside, the man following her shortly afterwards.

"Hey, wait!" I said. "I didn't get your name!"

He turned to face me right before the elevator doors closed.

"Stroup."

"Stroup. Got it. I'm Gabriel! We'll see you around sometime!"

"Sure," he said, right before the doors closed and they were on their way to the senior floor.

-LIZZIE'S POV-

I was standing in an elevator with an amazing guy, someone who proved to be more than just a new student. Much more. He was sweet, kind, strong and wise. What more could anybody possibly want? The doors opened swiftly, allowing us to exit the elevator and onto the senior floor. As we stepped out, I turned to face him.

"My room is down this way, so that means yours is, too!"

"Indeed," he chuckled.

He followed me down the hall and right across from my room. I stood right in front of the door, and pointed to the other side of the hall. "There it is, 427! That's your room."

He turned to see the door, and he smiled. "I see." He turned back around to see me, and his smile deepened with warmth. "Thank you very much...umm..."

"Oh! Right! I'm sorry. My name is Lizzie."

"Lizzie," he repeated. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise!" I giggled. "So, hey, umm...since we're right across the hall from each other and all, just...uhh...L-Let me know if there's anything I-I can do for you! O-Okay?"

He blinked in confusion. "O...Okay. Thanks." He pulled out the key from his pocket, and he used it to open the door, and he walked into his room, leaving me in the hallway alone. I did the same and entered my room, tossing myself onto my bed and, to my surprise, smiling to myself. I wasn't exactly sure what to make of what just happened. He was different than Shane, that boy from before. He was...well, I certainly did not enjoying talking to that boy. But with Stroup...he was different. Way different. And he's so proper with the way he speaks! Such a gentleman! I was happy I got to meet such a wonderful person. I wonder if he felt the same about me?

I've only been here for about a day, and I already feel like I've made a wonderful new friend. 


End file.
